Floods and landslides kill at least 70 in Bangladesh

The south eastern port city of Chittagong has been hit hard with at least 15 people killed. According to the weather office there, it has been raining heavily for the last five days, with 463mm (18.2 inches) of rain falling in the last 24 hours alone.

Another 30 died in Bandarban in an area known as the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Chittagong Deputy Commissioner Faiz Ahmed said: “Several more people are feared trapped in hillside homes buried under heaps of mud. Rescue operations are continuing.”

A further 24 were killed in the coastal district of Cox’s Bazar near the Myanmar border. District commissioner Jainul Bari said that the area was experiencing the worst rainfall in years.

Most of the deaths were caused by landslides, but collapsing walls, lightning strikes and surges of water also played a part. Army, police and fire brigade personnel were helping in rescue efforts to search for those who were still missing.

Svlhet, a rice and tea growing area in the northeast was flooded with water around one metre deep. Residents fled their homes and were forced to perch on boats or scramble to high ground.

Hundreds of homes have been washed away by flood water with authorities continuing to move families away from shanty housing.

Transport was also badly affected, with most road and rail links between Chittagong and the rest of the country suspended late on Tuesday. The city’s airport was closed too after water inundated part of the runway.

The monsoon rains cause huge problems in Bangladesh each year as low-lying areas of the country are densely populated and prone to experiencing flooding.

With further heavy monsoon downpours expected during the next few days, the risk of flooding is set to continue.