Landslide death toll reaches 154, rescue operation ends

Published : 17 Jun 2017, 14:03

Jagoroniya Desk

The death toll from the disastrous landslides triggered by incessant rains in five districts has reached 154 as the rescue operation ended on Friday

Rescuers pulled the bodies of two more people Ibrahim, 28, and Mujibur, 12 out of the rubble at Kaptai Lake and near Rangamati Circuit House in Rangamati on the fourth day of the rescue operation.

With this, a total of 110 people, including five army men, were died in Rangamati, which was hit hardest by the landslide, while 34 in Chittagong, six in Bandarban, two each in Cox's Bazar and Khagrachhari.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Army and Fire Service on Friday evening officially declared the end of the rescue operation in the district, said additional director of Rangamati Fire Service Golam Mostafa.

As 3-4 more people still remain missing in the district as per the locals, Mostafa said they closed the major operation. "Locals can continue the rescue operation, if they want to." 

The rescue operations in Bandarban, Khagrachhari and Chittagong ended two days back.

In Khagrachhari, the local administration in the morning started evacuating people living in risky hilly slopes fearing more landslides as rainfall started on Thursday night.

Fire Service men and police were taking them to a dormitory at Shalban of the district town under the supervision of Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Miz Alise Shormin, said officer-in-charge of Sadar police station Tareque Md Abdul Hannan.

He said they managed to evacuate 22 families from different areas, including Shalban and Sabujbagh, till the afternoon.

Most of the families declined to leave their homesteads despite knowing the looming danger, said Khagrachaari Fire Service official Jasim Uddin.

Source: unb

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