A girl was killed and four people went missing after a mudslide was triggered by heavy rains in southeastern Bangladesh yesterday, officials said.
The incident took place at around 9:30am [0330 GMT) as over half a dozen people were crossing a road in Bandarban district, said Md Rafiqullah, chief police officer in the Bandarban Sadar sub-district.
“Two of my sisters went missing in the landslide but later we found one’s body,” said the victim’s brother Chain Kya U.
Witnesses said the victims were the passengers of a bus but were crossing the road on foot as the road was severely damaged following the last month’s torrential rain and consequent landslides. Passengers are often forced to get down from vehicles on certain points due to its poor
condition.
“I saw a huge chunk of mud fall on seven to eight people when they were crossing the road,” said Sumon, a witness to the disaster.
The rescue operation is being disrupted due to heavy rain and intermittent landslides in the area.
“Primarily, we think four to five people are beneath the mud,” the chief police officer said.
A man rows a raft made of banana tree trunks on floodwater in Sirajganj, 130km from Dhaka.
