Five more killed in Cox’s

Five more persons were killed in two landslides in Cox’s Bazar on Sunday pushing the death toll in flooding and landsides to 20 in the district in a week. Of them, four persons were killed in a landslide at Puran Pallan Para village in Teknaf upazila of the district on Sunday. The landslide followed the two incidents one of which had occurred in the same village and another one in Natun Pallan Para village early Thursday claiming nine lives of two families. Sources said a heavy chunk of mud had suddenly fallen on Noor Hakim and his family members when they were inside their Puran Pallan Para village house at 12.30 pm. Local people recovered the bodies of Noor Hakim, his wife Madina Khatun, 22, daughter Rehena Khatun, 6, and son Ridwan, 3. But his three-month old child and father Kala Mia, 60, miraculously survived. The Cox’s Bazar deputy commissioner, Sajjadul Hassan, and the Teknaf upazila nirbahi officer, Altaf Hossen Chowdhry, visited the spot. The DC handed over Tk 16,000 as general aid to Noor Hakim’s father. `More than 1,000 people of 200 families have already been evacuated from their houses in the wake of recurring landslides,’ the DC said. Yet another landslide incident in Cox’s Bazar municipality area killed one person and injured another one at 2.00 pm the same day. Mostake Ahmed, 37, was killed and his wife Halima Begum, 27, injured as a heavy chunk of mud fell on their house at Mohajerpara under the municipality in the afternoon. Injured Halima was admitted to the Cox’s Bazar General Hospital. The Cox’s Bazar municipality acting chairman, Sarwar Kamal, said hundreds of houses, shops, and business establishments had gone under three feet water in the town due to heavy rainfall. The submerged areas include Foolbag, Hangarpara, Buddhist Temple, Badyeraghona, Pahartali and Khajamanjil, he added. Local Met office recorded 144 mm rainfall during the last 24 hours till 3.00 pm on Sunday. Moulavi Mostaque Ahmed, president of the Cox’s Bazar Shops Owners’ Association, said hundreds of shops, business centres and houses at Boro Bazar, fish market, rice market, kitchen market and vegetable market were under two to three feet water. Shamsul Karim, executive engineer of the Bangladesh Water Development Board, Cox’s Bazar, said some flood protection embankments were damaged by tidal waves during the last week. Nearly fifty villages under Pekoua, Chakoria, Ramu and Cox’s Bazar sadar upazilas were inundated as sea water entered through breaches of the embankments.