Death toll rises to 8 as landslide buries Rohingya girls' madrasah in Ukhiya

Highlights:

• Eight Rohingya schoolgirls killed in Camp-5
• Five injured in landslide at girls' madrasa
• Rescue operation ends after recovering victims
• Cox's Bazar rain-related death toll reaches 19

At least eight Rohingya schoolgirls were killed and five others injured after a rain-triggered landslide collapsed part of a girls' madrasah in Rohingya camp in Cox's Bazar's Ukhiya today (8 July), as relentless monsoon rains continued to batter Cox's Bazar.

The incident occurred at around 2:45pm at the Hazrat Khadijatul Kubra (RA) Girls' Madrasah and Orphanage, in Block A3 of Camp-5.

According to the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commission (RRRC), a hillside collapsed during heavy rainfall, causing a dilapidated wall to cave in on the madrasah, where 25 to 30 students were present.

Rohingya people, personnel from the Fire Service and Civil Defence, police, Red Crescent Society, join rescue efforts to save buried individuals as a landslide, triggered by heavy rainfall, buried a madrasah being used as a temporary storm shelter at a refugee camp in Ukhiya, Cox’s Bazar on 8 July 2026. Photo: TBS

Local residents, volunteers, camp officials and Fire Service personnel launched an immediate rescue operation. Four bodies were recovered from the scene, while nine critically injured people were taken to hospital, where four more later died.

Confirming the matter, Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mohammad Mizanur Rahman said the rescue operation concluded at around 5pm. "APBn personnel remained deployed at the site while the RRRC coordinated rescue and post-disaster response efforts."

The deceased were all girls. Four of them were identified as Rashida Begum, 13, Umme Nejatul, 13, Umme Salma, 12, and Umaisa Bibi, 13. Umme Nejatul and Umme Salma were sisters from Camp-3, while Rashida and Umaisa were residents of Camp-5.

Two children hold each other in terror as a massive landslide, triggered by heavy rainfall, buried a madrasah being used as a temporary storm shelter at a Rohingya refugee camp in Ukhiya, Cox’s Bazar on 8 July 2026. Photo: TBS

Authorities are working to identify the remaining four victims.

Five injured survivors are receiving treatment at different hospitals, officials said.

According to camp officials and residents, around 50 students were attending classes when the landslide struck. While most managed to flee, a classroom built beside a hillside was engulfed by a mass of earth, trapping several students.

Camp resident Maulvi Yunus said the landslide occurred only minutes before classes were due to end.

"There were just a few minutes left before the madrasa closed when the hill collapsed. The madrasa had been constructed on filled land," he said.

Rohingya people are conducting rescue efforts as a landslide buried a madrasah being used as a temporary storm shelter at a refugee camp in Ukhiya, Cox’s Bazar on 8 July 2026. Photo: TBS

The latest tragedy comes amid persistent heavy rainfall across Cox's Bazar.

Assistant Meteorologist Md Abdul Hannan said the district recorded 51mm of rainfall in the six hours between 6am and noon today.

With the latest fatalities, the death toll from landslide-related incidents in Cox's Bazar over the past three days has risen to 19.

Yesterday morning, a landslide killed one person in Cox's Bazar town, while a string of landslides on 6 July claimed the lives of eight Rohingya refugees in the camps, alongside two others in Cox's Bazar town and Pekua.

Furthermore, two children, including a Rohingya child, recently drowned in rising floodwaters amid the ongoing deluge.