Rains trigger landslides, floods killing 67 in Bangladesh (Roundup)

Dhaka - Landslides triggered by torrential rains Monday killed at least 67 people in the southern Bangladesh port city of Chittagong, while heavy downpours set off flash floods trapping tens of thousands in inundated villages, officials said. Unofficial figures put the death toll at 77 in the mishap which shocked the nation and jolted the stock market. A series of dangerous mudslides occurred in different parts of the port city with low-height hills dotting the landscape of Bangladesh's business capital, which remained cut off from the rest of the country due to landslides and floods. Monsoon torrents disrupted normal life and economic activities in Chittagong, divisional commissioner Mokhlesur Rahman said. 'Many shanty homes located at the foot of the hills were buried under piles of mud and gravel,' said Rahman, who is coordinating the rescue operation. Witnesses in the port city, about 265 kilometres south of the capital Dhaka, said most deaths were caused by heavy stones hitting the fragile dwellings. Rescuers feared many people could be trapped in the debris, but the rain was slowing the efforts to find them alive. The early monsoon rains also set off flash floods in Chittagong and in several other districts in the northeast of the country making thousands homeless. A spokesman of the Disaster Management Office said nearly 40,000 people were evacuated by the rescuers as the main river in the northeastern region Khowai burst its banks. © 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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Rains trigger landslides, floods killing 67 in Bangladesh (Roundup)

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