At least 10 children have lost their lives after three rain-triggered landslides struck Bangladesh’s southeastern Chattogram region on Wednesday, following days of relentless monsoon downpours.
According to Bangladesh’s Refugee, Relief and Repatriation Commissioner, Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, eight children were killed while five others were injured in a landslide that hit Cox’s Bazar district on Wednesday afternoon.
He said the deadly landslide was triggered by heavy rainfall that has battered the region, causing unstable hillsides to collapse. Extreme weather events during the monsoon season continue to pose a serious threat to vulnerable communities living in hilly areas across Bangladesh.
In separate incidents, two more children were killed in two other landslides in remote hilly areas of Chattogram city on the same day, bringing the total death toll to 10.
A senior official from the Bangladesh Meteorological Department said an active monsoon system had unleashed torrential rain across several parts of the Chattogram region.
Chattogram city recorded its highest rainfall in 43 years, with 412 millimetres (mm) of rain falling within 24 hours up to 3pm local time on Tuesday, surpassing the previous record of 411mm set in 1983.
As heavy rain continues, authorities have intensified evacuation efforts, relocating residents from landslide-prone hillsides in several parts of the Chattogram region to reduce the risk of further casualties.
