At least six people, including three Rohingya refugees, lost their lives and several others were injured following landslides triggered by heavy rains in southeastern Bangladesh on Friday, officials reported.
The landslides occurred in two locations in Cox’s Bazar, a border district that includes Rohingya refugee camps, after three days of continuous late monsoon rains, according to Mohammad Shamsud Douza, a senior government official overseeing refugee affairs.
In the Sadar upazila’s South Dikkul area, three members of a family were killed, while three more victims from another family died at the Hatikumrul-14 Rohingya camp in Ukhiya upazila. The deceased in South Dikkul were identified as Akhi Moni, 21, her husband Mizanur Rahman, and their children, Miha Jinnat, 5, and Latifa Islam, 1.
Additional Commissioner of Refugee Relief and Repatriation, Mohammad Samsud Douza Nayan, confirmed that continuous rainfall caused a landslide in Hakim Para Rohingya Camp No. 14, destroying three homes and claiming the lives of three brothers—Abdur Rahim, Abdul Hafeez, and Abdul Waheed—sons of Kabir Ahmed, residents of E-2 block.
Cox’s Bazar is home to more than a million Rohingya refugees, living in overcrowded and makeshift shelters made of bamboo and plastic, often perched on unstable hillsides. Most of the refugees fled violence in Myanmar during a military crackdown in 2017.
Cox’s Bazar Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO), Nilufa Yasmin Chowdhury, visited the affected areas, providing Taka 75,000 in financial aid to the victims’ families.
According to meteorologist Abdul Hannan, Cox’s Bazar recorded 378 mm of rainfall between 6 a.m. Thursday and 6 a.m. Friday, marking the highest recorded rainfall of the current monsoon season.
