Photo courtesy of Anadolu
At least 30 people have died in Bangladesh as heavy monsoon rains triggered landslides and flooding in the country’s southeastern districts, Disaster Management and Relief Minister Asadul Habib Dulu told Parliament on Thursday.
Dulu said the deaths were recorded as continuous rains battered several areas, particularly the Chattogram division.
The highest number of fatalities was reported in Cox’s Bazar, where 19 people died, according to the minister.
Cox’s Bazar is also home to around 1.2 million Rohingya refugees who fled a military crackdown in Myanmar in 2017.
Dulu said evacuation centers had already been opened in affected communities to respond to the disaster.
He said the government planned to relocate vulnerable families living under hills or in danger zones to government land, where houses would be built for them to reduce recurring deaths during the rainy season.
Md. Salah Uddin, deputy secretary of the Disaster Management and Relief Ministry, said the fatalities included five deaths on Thursday and were caused by landslides and other flood-related incidents in the hilly Chattogram division.
The Bangladesh Flood Forecasting and Warning Center earlier warned that heavy to very heavy rainfall could cause flooding in four divisions, including Chattogram, within 72 hours. UNHCR Bangladesh also said around 504,500 people in eight towns, including Rohingya refugee camps, could be exposed to flash floods, while the official death count included 15 refugees from the camps.