Rescue operators look for bodies underneath mud in Rangamati on Tuesday after rain for the past several days caused mudslides in the hilly districts, leaving at least 134 people. — Focusbangla photo
Landslides in Chittagong, Rangamati and Bandarban, caused by days of heavy rain, killed at least 134 people including four army personnel, injured 86 and left an unknown number of people missing.
In Rangamati, 98 people were killed and 77 injured, in Chittagong 30 were dead and nine injured and in Bandarban six were killed by the landslides, said disaster management officials.
Reaz Ahmed, director general of disaster management department, said they moved around 700 people to 10 shelter centres in Rangamati.
He said they were sending a special disaster response team of 40 personnel to join the rescue operations in Rangamati today.
Besides, 1,400 people were shifted to 14 shelter centres in Bandarban, according to disaster management officials.
While on duty to restore road communication, Major Mohammad Fazlul Haque, 36, Captain Md Tanvir Salam Shanta, 27, Corporal Mohammad Azizul Haque, 41, and soldier Md Shahin Alam, 29, were killed, says a press release of Inter Services Public Relations.
The ISPR said army soldier Md Azizur Rahman, 30, of the same team, was missing since 11:00am on Tuesday.
It said 10 other army members of the team, struck
by landslides, were injured falling into a creek 30 feet below and five of them were flown to Combined Military Hospital in the capital in a critical condition.
The army team was on rescue and communication restoration mission at Manikchhari, close to Rangamati district town.
Bishwanath Majumder, the district relief and rehabilitation officer, talking to New Age at around 11:15pm, said that the death toll in the district could rise as they were yet to gather information from some areas due to communications disruption.
Nearly 1,000 houses were fully or partially damaged as new details started to emerge, he said.
Mohammad Shahidullah, additional police super of Rangamati, told New Age that roads were blocked by mud in many areas making it very difficult for the rescuers to reach many affect areas.
District fire service chief Didarul Alam said their 25 personnel and some 40 volunteers were engaged in seven teams to conduct the rescue operations.
‘We could rescue at least 18 people alive but still reports of missing people are coming,’ he said.
The Chittagong district disaster control room officials, quoting reports received from outlying areas until 10:15pm on Tuesday, said that at least 30 people were killed by landslides in the district.
The landslides killed at least six people in the Bandarban sadar upazila, officer-in-charge of the Sadar police station Md Rafiqullah told New Age.
Many people are feared to have remained missing in the remote and inaccessible areas.
Local people came forward to help fire service, army and police personnel in rescuing people trapped under mud.
Met office website shows that 375 mm of rainfall in 24 hours until 6:00pm on Tuesday caused the devastations across Rangamati.
In Chittagong, it shows, 122 mm of rain fall was recorded during the same period.
Road communications between Chittagong and Rangamati and Bandarban which remained snapped since Tuesday morning could not be restored until 10:00pm on the day, said officials.
In separate messages, president Abdul Hamid, prime minister Sheikh Hasina, leader of the opposition in parliament Rawshan Ershad, speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury and former prime minister and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia expressed condolence at the deaths caused by the devastating landslides.
The sufferings of people increased in Rangamati due to power supply disruption since Monday morning.
Rangamati civil surgeon Shahid Talukder said power supply disruption was hampering treatment of the injured.
The 30 deaths in Chittagong include 22 at Rangunia, said police and upazila officials.
Rangunia UNO Kamal Hossain said landslides killed eight members of two families in village Jungle Bogabili, 11 members of two other families in village Moinnarpara and three others were killed in village Islampur.
He said that four villagers were missing from Hosnabad.
Rangunia police officer-in-charge Imtiaz Ahmed said many of the affected areas could not be reached until Tuesday evening as the roads were submerged by muddy water.
He said they identified eight people who were killed at Jungle Bogabili of Rajanagar union.
The deceased are Nazrul Islam, 40, his wife Asma, 30, their son Nonai, 12, daughter Sathi, 7, and Ismail, 26, his wife Monira, 20, Eisha, 8, and Eva, 4.
He said the other dead could not be identified.
The Chittagong district administration evicted 150 families from the hills facing the risk of landslides.
Source: New Age