Severe Monsoon Rains in Bangladesh Leave 50 Dead and Thousands Displaced

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

The worst‑affected district is Chattogram, where 50 people have died, including 29 buried by landslides, according to divisional commissioner Mohammed Ziauddin. Two individuals remain missing. Around 35,000 people have been forced to seek shelter in government‑run centres.

Bangladesh, a low‑lying delta nation, is highly vulnerable to floods and landslides during the monsoon season, but scientists say climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events.

Desperate Conditions

Army and border guard personnel have been ferrying food, drinking water and other essentials by boat to communities cut off by the heavy flooding. Many people remain in desperate conditions, with their homes and kitchens submerged.

In Chattogram, one family could not fulfil their wish to bury a relative beside his parents because the local cemetery was submerged. “We placed my uncle’s body on a bamboo raft and swam alongside it in search of a piece of land that was not underwater,” his nephew Nizam Uddin told AFP.

Refugee Camps Hit

Last week, heavy rains triggered landslides in Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, killing 15 people. More than 1.2 million refugees live in congested shelters on hillsides cleared of trees making the land unstable during monsoon rains.

Forecast

Sarder Udoy Raihan of the Flood Forecasting and Warning Center said Sunday the situation in southeastern districts is likely to improve soon. “But the monsoon remains active over the northeastern and northern parts of Bangladesh, and there is a possibility of further inundation,” he told AFP.

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