53 killed in landslides in Cox's Bazar, Bandarban

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Office-bearers of Japan-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JBCCI) pose for photograph in the AGM of the chamber recently.

FE Report
Landslides triggered by heavy rain killed at least 53 people in Cox's Bazar and Bandarbans districts as rescue operations continued, police said Tuesday.
Among the dead were five army personnel stationed in a makeshift camp at Himchhari near the Cox's Bazar sea beach, while four others were buried alive in the hill district of Bandarbans, according to news agencies.
Weather office recorded about 25 centimetres of rainfall in 24 hours to 9.0 am on Tuesday.
"The mudslides struck Ukhia and Teknaf upazilas as a result of heavy rainfall . . . while most victims were asleep," news agency BSS quoted a senior police official saying.
"The death toll may go up further as rescue operations continue," he said.
Cox's Bazar deputy commissioner Giasuddin Ahmed told bdnews24.com that 13 people died and seven were injured when landslides struck at Ukhia and Teknaf upazilas as a result of two days' heavy rain.
Five members of one family are thought to have died in the landslide, said Ukhia Upazila's Palangkhali Union Parishad chairman Mazharul Anwar Chowdhury Sifat.
They were Joynal Abedin, 35, wife Rahela Yeasmin Daisy, 25, their two sons, 'Arman', 7, 'Sobhan', 3 and daughter Umme Habiba, whose age could not be known.
Nurul Amin, 14, resident of Dhamankhali village of the same union, drowned in water.
Five bodies - whose identity was not yet known - have so far been recovered, said Teknaf Upazila Nirbahi Officer Nazimuddin.
The bodies of those who died could not be identified, he said.
Communications between Teknaf and Cox's Bazar were snapped as the highway went under water owing to the rain, Mr. Nazim said.
Sifat, the UP chairman, also said 19 of 27 villages in Palangkhali union were submerged.
The Bandarban correspondent said in another incident, four members of a family died and at least seven were injured in a landslide at North Tumabru Bazar in Ghumdhum union early in the day. Ghumdhum is located on the Cox's Bazar-Myanmar border area.
The deceased were identified as Habibul Bashar, 25, wife Sajeda Begum, 21, their son Shakir Uddin, 4, and daughter Shakera Begum, 3.
Five army men engaged in construction of "Marine Drive' were killed in landslide at Himchhari in Cox's Bazar Tuesday morning.
The army said a total of 62 military personnel were engaged in the construction of 24-km 'Marine Drive' from Cox's Bazar to Inani along the sea beach. The army men were staying in a camp at Himchhari at the foothills.
After the Tuesday's landslide caused by heavy downpour for last few days, local fire brigade and army jointly started rescue operation and so far recovered five bodies. The rescue of another one was continuing.
The deceased were Sergeant (Surveyor) Afsar Ali of Netrakona district, Corporal Habibur Rahman of Tangail district, Sepoy Humayun Kabir of Jamalpur district, Sepoy (DMT) Ismail Hossain of Cox's Bazar district, and Sepoy Abdul Maelk of Chuadanga district.