Landslides kill 15 in southeastern Bangladesh

At least 15 people were killed in landslides in Chittagong and Cox's Bazar districts in southeastern Bangladesh amid heavy downpour yesterday.

Much of the port city, Chittagong, went under knee-deep to waist-deep water.

Eleven of the victims -- five of them children aged between two and 12 -- died in separate landslides in different parts of Chittagong.

In Cox's Bazar, four persons were killed as large chunks of earth fell on their hillside homes in different areas of Maheshkhali upazila, police said.

Several people in the port city were reported missing following a number of avalanches at Uttar Pahartali and Banshkhali areas.

All domestic and international flight operations to and from Chittagong Shah Amanat International Airport were declared suspended at 4:30 p.m. as the runway was inundated.

Train services on the Dhaka-Chittagong route were cut off as a railway bridge at Bhatiari collapsed around 8:00 p.m., presumably due to the downpour.

As the monsoon torrent kept lakhs of people stranded at home throughout the day since early morning, business in the country's commercial capital came to a near halt.

With most of the areas of the city submerged, at least 11 areas experienced total power blackout for about 12 hours since 8:00 a.m. Power connection was restored in some of the areas after 8:30 p.m.

The Power Development Board snapped the connections fearing accidents resulting from short circuits, said Md Moniruzzaman, public relations officer of Chittagong PDB.

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Landslides kill 15 in southeastern Bangladesh