Four of a family die in Sylhet landslide

SYLHET, June 01: Four members of a family died in a landslide amid torrential rain at Bokhtiarghat village in Golapganj upazila on Sunday.

Locals said a huge chunk of soil from tila (hillock) collapsed on the thatched house of Riazuddin at about 2:30am when he and his other family members were sleeping during the downpour. The landslide took place due to heavy rain that occurred in the district for the last two days.

Riazuddin, 50, his wife Rohima Khatun, 45, and children Ali Abbas, 10, and Samia Khatun, 14, met the tragic end of their life.

Firefighters and upazila officials as well as army personnel were informed of the incident soon after the incident.

Locals failed to recover the bodies due to heavy rains and inclement weather, local union parishad chairman Kholkur Rahman.

The rescue team could not reach the spot immediately after the incident as some trees uprooted and fell on nearby places, said Maniruzzaman Molla, officer in charge of Golapganj police station. Later, bodies of the four people were recovered from under the mud on Sunday morning. Inhabitants of some tilas (hillocks) were asked to leave their houses on security grounds, officials said.

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