2 children killed in landslides triggered by heavy rain in Cox's Bazar
Victims were fast asleep when a chunk of the hill behind their house collapsed.
Two children were killed, and a woman was injured in a landslide triggered by incessant heavy rainfall in Cox's Bazar's Chakaria upazila early today (9 July).
The incident took place around 1:30am at the Double Toli area under Baraitali union in the upazila.
The deceased were identified as Obaidul Islam, 13, son of Abdul Majid, and Rumi Akter, 13, daughter of Md Kajol. Both were residents of the area.
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Chakaria Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Shaheen Delwar confirmed the incident.
Local Union Parishad (UP) member Abdu Shukkur said the victims were fast asleep when a chunk of the hill behind their house collapsed. Residents rescued one woman alive and later recovered the bodies of the two children.
"I received the information around 3am. The area is deep inside the hills and can only be reached by boat or on foot. We had repeatedly warned residents living on the hillsides to move to safer places, and the administration also made public announcements, but they did not relocate," he said.
The UNO stated that the injured woman is currently undergoing treatment at a local hospital, adding that the administration will provide financial assistance to the affected families.
The latest incident has raised the death toll from landslides in Cox's Bazar to 17 over the past four days.
Of them, at least 13 were Rohingya killed in landslides at refugee camps in Ukhiya.
Earlier, on Monday (6 July) night, 10 people, including women and children, were killed in separate landslides at Rohingya camps 7, 11, and 15 in Ukhiya and at Chattarghona in Cox's Bazar town. The same day, a seven-year-old child was killed after the wall of a house collapsed in a landslide in Pekua Upazila. Several others were injured in the incidents.
Md Abdul Hannan, assistant meteorologist at the Cox's Bazar Meteorological Office, said the district recorded 125mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours. From Sunday to 3pm yesterday, the district recorded a cumulative rainfall of 506 mm.
Local maritime ports have been advised to keep hoisting local cautionary signal number 3.
