Heavy monsoon rains in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar trigger landslides that kill Rohingya refugees in and around the camps, with multiple reports describing fatalities across different locations. Authorities and media outlets report that collapses occur in hillside camp areas, where many shelters are built on cleared slopes that become unstable during heavy rainfall. One incident involves a landslide at a refugee school during class time, where children and a teacher are killed after mud swamps the school hut. Another set of deaths occurs when landslides strike people sleeping in camps on a previous night. While the exact overall death toll varies slightly by outlet—ranging from eight to nine total—sources consistently cite that children account for the majority of victims, including five children reported killed in the school incident, and that the teacher is among those who die. Bangladesh’s weather authorities warn that torrential rain continues for several days, and officials say residents are being moved away from high-risk areas. Reports also highlight concerns among refugees about coordination and the need for safer relocation sites.
Landslides in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar refugee camps kill Rohingya children and others
Heavy monsoon rains in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar trigger landslides that kill Rohingya refugees in and around the camps, with multiple reports describing fatalities across different locations. Authorit...
- Monsoon rains in Cox’s Bazar trigger landslides at Rohingya refugee camps.
- Landslides occur at multiple locations, including a school where children and a teacher die.
- Many victims are children, with reports naming at least five children among the fatalities from the school incident.
- Bangladesh authorities warn more heavy rain is expected for several days and relocate residents from high-risk areas.
- Shelters on deforested hillside slopes are described as increasing landslide risk during heavy rainfall.
COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh (AFP) — Heavy rain in Bangladesh triggered a landslide at the world's largest refugee camp on Wednesday, killing seven children and a teacher during a school class and doubling the death toll from rain-related disasters this week. Rescuers clawed through liquid earth to drag out the bodies of the children, who drowned in the mud that swamped their school hut as they studied. More than 1.2 million Rohingya refugees, many who fled Myanmar during a brutal military crackdown in 2017, live in crowded refugee camps in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar. Many refugees live in crowded, basic shelters on hillsides cleared of forests -- making the land unstable when monsoon rains pour down. Bangladesh Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mohammed Mizanur Rahman said seven children and their teacher had died. "Unfortunately, four died at the scene, while four others died in hospital," Rahman told AFP. Landslides also killed at least eight people as they slept in three different camps on Monday night. Bangladesh's Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre said torrential rain is likely to continue for four days. Refugee representative Sayed Ullah, president of the United Council of Rohingya, said that people needed new land in safer locations. "We don't see proper coordination... over the accommodation of the Rohingya, and that is reflected in these accidents," he said. The United Nations calls it "one of the world's largest and most protracted refugee situations". The 2017 Myanmar crackdown, when Rohingya villages were burned and civilians killed, is the subject of a genocide case at the UN's top court in The Hague.
1 month agoHillsides collapse at four locations at camps in Cox's Bazar in southeastern Bangladesh amid monsoon rains.
1 month agoHeavy monsoon rains triggered deadly landslides across Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar, killing eight people, including five children
1 month agoHeavy monsoon rains trigger deadly landslides in Cox's Bazar camps as authorities relocate residents from high-risk areas.
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