10 Children Killed In Rain-Triggered Landslides In SE Bangladesh

DHAKA, July 8 (NNN-Xinhua) -- Three incidents of landslides triggered by heavy rain killed 10 children in Bangladesh's southeastern Chattogram region on Wednesday.

Bangladesh's Refugee, Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mohammed Mizanur Rahman told Xinhua that a devastating landslide on Wednesday afternoon claimed eight lives in Chattogram's Cox's Bazar district.

"Eight children were killed, and five others were injured in the landslide triggered by heavy rainfall on Wednesday," said the official.

In a remote hilly area of Chattogram city, two local children were also reportedly killed in two separate incidents of landslides on Wednesday.

A senior meteorologist with the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua that an active monsoon had led to heavy rainfall in parts of Chattogram.

The Chattogram city alone reportedly logged its heaviest rainfall in 43 years, with 412 millimetres recorded in the 24 hours until 3.00 pm local time on Tuesday, compared to 411 mm in 1983.

Against this backdrop, authorities continued evacuating people from the hills at risk of landslides in parts of the Chattogram region. 

--NNN-XINHUA