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Bangladesh landslide, storm toll tops 100

Bangladesh landslide, storm toll tops 100

06-12-2007, 05h12
CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh (AFP)

Bangladeshi rescue workers recover bodies after a landslide in Chittagong. Hundreds of police, soldiers and emergency workers were digging through piles of mud in southeastern Bangladesh on Tuesday as the toll from landslides rose close to 100 (AFP)
The toll from landslides in Bangladesh brought on by heavy monsoon rains topped 100 Tuesday as hundreds of rescue workers were digging in the mud with little hope of finding survivors.
Police, soldiers and emergency teams involved in the search operation around the southeastern port of Chittagong said they were fighting a losing battle with continuing rain hampering the search effort.
"In one spot alone, we found 14 dead bodies. We had to dig through ten feet of mud for hours to locate the bodies," Chittagong fire brigade chief Rashedul Islam said, adding that they were the worst landslides he had ever seen.
"These helpless people were living in tin-roofed houses at the foot of hills. They did not have a chance," he added.
Landslides are regular in hilly areas of Chittagong, and experts have previously warned of disastrous consequences as a result of successive governments' failure to stop the illegal clearing of hill areas for housing.
Officials said 100 bodies had been recovered from the mud in and around Chittagong, a city of 1.5 million people, while ten more people died in lightning strikes in four districts across the country. One other person was electrocuted.
The head of Bangladesh's military-backed emergency government, Fakhruddin Ahmed, and communications minister M.A. Matin were both in Chittagong to oversee the search operation.
Ahmed will meet top government and military officials and visit affected areas, said Chittagong's chief administrator Mukhlesur Rahman.
An official in the army's incident control room, Major Moeen, said more than a thousand troops, police, fire brigade and civilian workers, have joined the search although he feared the "toll may climb further".
The landslides struck early Monday as people slept following several days of continuous monsoon downpours.
The rains also left a third of the major seaport city under around a metre (three to four feet) of water, although almost all has now dispersed.
At least 89 people were injured in the landslides and admitted to hospital.
Islam warned that progress would continue to be slow due to a lack of mechanical diggers and sporadic rain.
"The moment we clear the water with pumps, the rain fills the void up again within minutes," he said.
"We were not prepared for such a huge tragedy. We have only had only a few shovels and spades."
Bangladesh's meteorological office said the rains will continue in some parts of Chittagong district for at least the next 24 hours although they are likely to be lighter than over the weekend.

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