10 including 8 Rohingyas killed in Cox's Bazar landslides
The torrential rain is likely to continue for two to three days more, the Met office said
At least ten people, including eight Rohingyas, were killed in landslides caused by heavy torrential rain in the Ukhiya Rohingya camp of Cox's Bazar on Wednesday (19 June).
Cox's Bazar Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mizanur Rahman said the casualties occurred in five separate landslides from Wednesday midnight through the morning.
On the day, the meteorological department forecasted heavy rain and issued a warning for possible landslides in Chattogram and nearby hilly areas over the next 72 hours.
The warning also advised Chattogram, Cox's Bazar, Mongla, and Payra seaports to display local warning signal No 3 and all fishing boats and trawlers over the North Bay have been advised to come close to the coast and proceed with caution till further notice.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
According to official sources, the landslides affected Ukhiya Rohingya camps numbering 1, 8, 9, 10, and 14.
Among the victims, one person died in camp No 1, two people died in camp No 8, two in camp No 9, four in camp No 10 and one in camp No 14.
The deceased from camp No 10 were identified as Abu Meher, 25, Zainab Bibi, 19, Abul Kalam, 50 and Selima Khatun, 45.
The victims from camp No 9 were Md Hossain, 50, and Anwara Begum, 18, Md Salman, 3.
Putni Begum, 34, was killed in camp No 1.
Four-year-old Md Harez was killed in the landslide at block B-82 under camp No 8 and 12-year-old Abdul Karim, son of Shah Alam from Ukhiya's Thaingkhali area, was killed in camp No 14.
The two local victims were Hossain Ahmed from Chattogram's Satkania who was killed in camp No 9 and Abdul Karim, who lived beside Ukhiya Rohingya camp No 14.
According to Mizanur Rahman, four people were killed in the landslide at Block-C3 under camp No 10. The bodies were recovered during a rescue operation carried out by two fire service units.
"Three more bodies were recovered following another landslide which occurred around 3:00am at Block-I4 under camp No 9," he said. "At around 4:00am, two more people were killed in landslides in camps No 8 and 14. One person died in a landslide at camp No 1 at around 4am. However, no one was reported injured in these incidents."
Ukhiya police station Officer-in-Charge Shamim Hossain said the nine victims included a four-year-old boy, a 12-year-old boy, and several women.
The victims were reportedly sleeping when the tragic incident occurred.
The rescue operation has been completed with the evacuation of camp residents from risky areas in the camp, Mizanur told The Business Standard.
Meanwhile, there has been continuous rain in Cox's Bazar since last night.
According to Cox's Bazar Meteorological Office Deputy Assistant Director Tofail Ahmad, the district recorded 63mm of rainfall in the 24 hours between 12pm on Tuesday and 12pm Wednesday.
