Bangladesh landslides kill at least eight
Landslides triggered by heavy monsoon rains in southeast Bangladesh killed at least eight Rohingya refugees, including five children, while heavy monsoon rains hit parts of neighboring India, killing 13 people in the last few days.
Dollar Tripura, Fire and Civil Defense official in Cox’s Bazar district, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that rescuers recovered seven bodies, while the eighth body was found by refugees after several hills collapsed late Sunday into Monday morning. “All of them were delivered to the families,” he said.
He said there were two more injured children.
Torrential monsoon rains lashed large areas in India on Tuesday, triggering flash floods and landslides in northern Himalayan states, flooding roads and forcing schools to close in Mumbai.
Rains cause deadly landslides in refugee camps in Bangladesh
Officials said that continuous rain and heavy rains on the hillsides loosened the soil on the hillsides, causing the makeshift houses to collapse.
Tripura said landslides affected at least four places in the camps, leaving shelters buried under mud and debris while residents slept.
Officials said they were relocating refugees from at-risk mountain areas, with about 1,000 people already relocated.
The weather office in the capital Dhaka is predicting more rain in the coming days.
According to UNHCR, 36 refugees died and at least 86 people were injured in similar landslides that occurred in refugee camps between 2021 and 2026.
More than a million refugees who fled neighboring Myanmar live in camps in Bangladesh.
Renewed clashes between the military government and the Arakan Army in Myanmar’s Rakhine state have increased concerns about a new influx of Rohingya refugees across the border.
At least 13 people died from rain-related causes in western India
It has been stated that at least 13 people have died in rain-related incidents in India’s western Maharashtra state, home to Mumbai, in the last few days due to the intensification of monsoon weather. Landslides triggered by heavy rain in Pune district forced authorities to temporarily close parts of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, disrupting traffic between the two cities.
The India Meteorological Department has warned that heavier rains are expected in Maharashtra in the coming days and flooding will continue in low-lying areas.
Heavy rain in the northern Himalayan regions of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh triggered flash floods and landslides that damaged roads, disrupted public transport and blocked access to many villages. Emergency teams were mobilized to evacuate the stranded citizens.
India’s annual southwest monsoon, which lasts from June to September, is critical for agriculture and replenishing water resources, but it also causes widespread floods and landslides each year, especially in the Himalayan region and in densely populated cities with poor drainage.
