Tales of a lucky escape, grim ends

It is being called a miracle; a single moment that offers some semblance of hope in this bleak period.

Mohammad Yunus, 40, who lives on the slopes of the hill around 50 feet below the main road adjacent to Manikchari army camp, can count his blessings, unlike many others. 

When heavy rains unleashed a massive landslide near the camp on Chittagong-Rangamati highways on Tuesday, Yunus, along with 15 army personnel, happened to be right there. Four army men, including two officers, were killed on the spot and 10 others were injured, with one still missing. 

 The force of the mudflows washed those in its way 30 feet down below the road. Yunus was tossed all the way down into a pond while the army personnel were pushed onto a number of homes located on the slopes.

“I was watching the army's road clearing operation at around 9:30am. I came to the road after shifting my family members from my home to a safer place.  10 minutes after the army men began clearing up the road, a huge landslide took place and washed all of us away,” Yunus narrated his horror of tale to The Daily Star.

He said he was lucky to still be alive. “I fell in the pond and I managed to get out of the water. I got hurt on my back only, but that is minor,” he said, adding that if he fell where the army had, he would not have been so lucky.

“I express my gratitude to the almighty as I am still alive. I have seen death closely,” he said while standing at the exact location where the horror unfolded.

Yunus' rented home on the slopes, where he had been living for seven years, was washed away in the landslide.

DESPAIR STILL REIGNS

Mohammad Nabi, a driver by profession, was in a happy mood as he had arranged the marriage of his second daughter to take place after Ramdan. His joy was to be short-lived though, as the events of Tuesday transpired.

Living with five family members in a valley beside Natun para mosque in Rangamati town, Nabi returned home after Fazr Prayers unaware that soon a landslide from the adjacent hills would bury his home and kill all five of his loved ones including his beloved second daughter. Neighbours though rescued him alive and sent to the hospital with critical injures. 

Visiting the house Wednesday afternoon, this correspondent saw only the ravaged remnants.

Like Nabi, Md Mohiuddin Ziad, a class ten student, was also a victim of the same disaster. He lost all of his family members in the landslide in Vedvedi Bazar area. According to his parental uncle, Abdur Rashid, Ziad now has no one to look after him. He has been admitted at Rangamati Sadar hospital with critical injures.

 Similarly, when Subash Boshu Chakma, a police personnel and Jibon Mitro Chakma, a corporal of Bangladesh Army, got married to two sisters ---Rupali Chakma, 30 and Sonali Chakma, 32, respectively, they never comprehended not seeing their families again. The recent landslide unfortunately killed both of their wives and children in the house they built around five years ago at Jubo Unnoyon Area at ward no-6 in Rangamati.

Rupali was living with her eight year old son Omio Chakma, a class three student and Sonali with her daughters Juimoni Chakma, 12, a class seven student and Jumjumi Chakma, 3.

“I spoke to my wife on Monday night and told her that I was coming. My wife and daughters were eagerly waiting for me. I was looking forward to see them”, said Jibon, who broke down in tears while talking to The Daily Star.

Subash, though, was so overcome with grief, he could not speak after hearing the death news of his wife and daughter.