4 killed in Cox’s Bazar after heavy rainfall causes landslide

08 Aug 2023 | 1: 21 pm

More than 50,000 families have been marooned in the district due to incessant rains and tidal surge.

At least four people were killed in separate landslides triggered by incessant rainfall in Cox’s Bazar.

A Rohingya woman and her two-year-old daughter were killed in a landslide at Ukhiya camp around 5:30pm 7 August 2023. The deceased are Jannat Ara, 28, and her daughter Mahim Aktar.

Md Amir Zafar, commanding officer of Armed Police Battalion (APBn)-8 Ukhiya, said a fire service team reached the spot after being informed about the landslide, and pulled the mother and her child out of the debris. They were taken to hospital where doctors declared them dead, the official said.

On the other hand, two children of a family were killed as a landslide demolished their house in Chakaria upazila of Cox’s Bazar.

Boroitoli Union Parishad Chairman Mohammad Salekuzzaman said the incident occurred around 4:30pm today in Boroghona area of the union. 

However, the identity of the deceased could not be known yet.

Meanwhile, a young man was swept away by the currents of the Matamuhuri river in Chakaria while gathering wood from the onrush water this afternoon. Around 1pm today, the body of the youth was recovered from the Laksharchar estuary of the river, Chakaria Upazila Chairman Fazlul Karim Sayedee told The Business Standard.

Cox’s Bazar Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Shahin Imran said more than 50,000 families have been marooned in the district. He also informed that shelter centres have been opened in every upazila.

“The administration is currently assisting the affected people with the resources allocated so far. However, the specific demands at the upazila level have not yet been determined. Once the demands from the upazila are received, they will be forwarded to the ministry for further action,” he added.

Chakaria Upazila Chairman Fazlul Karim said water from the hills flows through the hilly district and Chakaria via Matamuhuri river. The onrush of upstream water, heavy rainfall and tidal waves led to the collapse of dams, resulting in widespread inundation across various unions of the upazila, said the chairman. The tidal waves continue to erode marine drive, Laboni beach, Sugandha Point, Maheshkhali and Kutubdia upazila.  

The authorities have undertaken measures to prevent erosion by creating sand embankments in geo bags along certain sections of Marine Drive, while more erosions have been observed in a few other vulnerable locations.