One killed in Cox's Bazar landslide

A man in Cox's Bazar's Moheshkhali was killed in a landslide yesterday, while people of Rangamati and Bandarban are living in fear of further calamity as incessant rain continued there for the last couple of days.

Landslides claimed around 150 lives in five districts, including Rangamati, Cox's Bazar and Bandarban, last month.

In Cox's Bazar, the man who lost his life is Monar Alam, 38, of Mohrakata village, reports our district correspondent.

Locals said Monar was going to the toilet when the landslide happened.

Pradip Kumar Das, officer-in-charge of Moheshkhali Police Station, said a large portion of mud fell on Monar around 7:00am. He was taken to the local health complex where he died.

The OC added that Monar's house is at the foot of a hill.

In Rangamati, heavy rain that started a day ago continued yesterday, leaving people in fear of further landslides.

A landslide on Rangamati-Chittagong highway happened in Shalbagan area around 12:00noon, halting vehicular movement. Traffic resumed on the road around 1:00pm after employees of the Roads and Highways Department cleared the road, reports our Rangamati correspondent.

Nur Nabi, 34, a resident of Shimultoli in Rangamati municipality, said he was passing each day in fear of landslide as his house is near a hill.

Mohammad Khalil, 40, of Notun Para Bhedvedi area, said although there was an announcement from the local administration, urging them to go to shelter, he was still staying at home because of his domestic animals.

Touhidul Islam, secretary of Bandarban municipality, said they visited the district Town Hall area recently and found that the hall was at risk of collapse due to unplanned hill cutting, reports our Bandarban correspondent.

Abdul Aziz, executive engineer of CHTDB in Bandarban unit, said the Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board (CHTDB) spent around Tk six crore for building the hall.

“We completed the work of the building in 2016 and handed it over to Bandarban Hill District Council, but it is yet to be inaugurated,” he said, adding that a retaining wall would be built to protect the hall from landslides.

In Khagrachhari, a small part of a hill collapsed in Atharo Poribar area in Sadar upazila yesterday due to incessant rain. Fearing fresh landslides, the local administration forced 10 families of the area to go to a shelter, reports our correspondent there.