Rains and floods kill 55 people in Bangladesh since early August

At least 55 people have been killed due to heavy rains and landslides that have hit areas in Bangladesh over the past two weeks, affecting more than a million individuals, according to officials on Sunday.

Floods and landslides since August 1 have caused the death of 21 people in Cox's Bazar, 19 in Chittagong, 10 in Bandarban, and five in Rangamati, according to local authorities in the four most affected regions.

Azizur Rahman, an official from the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, stated to Agence France-Presse that these rains are "some of the heaviest in recent years."

He explained that the amount of rainfall on August 7 alone reached 312 millimeters.

Officials reported that heavy rainfall continued until August 11, leading to widespread flooding. River waters overflowed, submerging hundreds of villages.

The exact number of casualties could not be verified until the waters began to recede.

South Asian regions witness about 80 percent of their annual rainfall during the monsoon season, which is accompanied by fatalities due to flooding and landslides.

Rainfall amounts are difficult to predict and vary from year to year, but scientists affirm that climate change makes monsoon rains more intense and erratic, while deforestation and construction on hillsides intensify flooding.

Shahin Ibrahim, a local official in Cox's Bazar district, told AFP that floods affected "about 600,000 people," and at least 21 lost their lives.

Bangladesh hosts around one million Rohingya refugees who fled from Myanmar due to military repression, and they currently reside in camps established in the deforested forests and hillsides of Cox's Bazar.

A refugee affairs official clarified that four of them, including a mother and child, were killed. Around 2,000 individuals who were at risk of landslides in the camps were relocated to safer areas.

Waters also inundated hundreds of villages in Chittagong, the second-largest city in Bangladesh and home to its largest port, due to floods that residents claimed were the worst in decades.

Local official Abdul Basher Mohammad Fakhrul Islam told AFP that "the floods caused damage to around 5,000 thatched-roof houses."

He added, "At least 19 people were killed by the floods. We retrieved some bodies from the Sangu River as the water receded in the past few days. Approximately 450,000 people were affected by the floods."

He noted that mobility between Chittagong and Cox's Bazar was disrupted for several days, and a recently constructed railway bridge suffered damage.

Sudden major floods were caused by rains in the Bandarban hill region, where the official Shah Majahidul Islam announced the death of at least 10 people.

Administrative official Mashraf said that five people were killed in the Rangamati hill area, where heavy rainfall displaced around 23,000 individuals.

Shahina Sultana, another official, stated that Bangladeshi authorities sent relief and food assistance to the hardest-hit areas, while the search for missing individuals continues.

She emphasized that "the government is doing everything possible to help the people."



AFP