Bangladesh monsoon floods and landslides kill at least 50, officials say

Flash floods and landslides caused by monsoon rains have killed at least 50 people in Bangladesh over the past week, officials said on Sunday, and tens of thousands of people have been displaced from their homes.

Bangladesh is a low-lying delta country crossed by many rivers. It is highly exposed to flooding and landslides during the monsoon season, and the source said scientists say climate change is making extreme weather events more frequent and intense.

In recent days, army and border guard personnel have used boats to take food, drinking water and other essential supplies to communities cut off by heavy flooding in southeastern districts.

Divisional commissioner Mohammed Ziauddin told AFP by phone that as many as 50 people had died in the worst-affected Chattogram district in the past week, including 29 people buried by landslides. He said two people were still missing and about 35,000 people had been forced to move into government-run shelters.

Authorities have opened about 4,000 shelters for displaced residents. Shortages of food and safe drinking water have worsened conditions, and residents said many people remained in difficult circumstances, with homes and kitchens under floodwater.

One affected family was unable to bury Mohammed Forkan beside his parents because the local cemetery was under chest-deep water. His nephew, Nizam Uddin, told AFP that relatives placed Forkan's body on a bamboo raft and swam beside it while looking for land that was not submerged. He said they eventually buried him on government land and held a small funeral prayer.

The source also said heavy rain last week triggered landslides in Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar, killing 15 people. More than 1.2 million refugees live in crowded shelters on hillsides where trees have been cleared, leaving the land unstable during monsoon rains.

Sarder Udoy Raihan of the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre told AFP on Sunday that conditions in southeastern districts were likely to improve soon. He said, however, that the monsoon was still active over northeastern and northern Bangladesh and that further flooding was possible.