DHAKA: Landslides triggered by heavy monsoon rains in eastern Bangladesh in killed at least eight Rohingya refugees, including five children, officials said Tuesday.
Dollar Tripura, a Fire Service and Civil Defense official in Cox’s Bazar district, told The Associated Press that rescuers recovered seven bodies while an eighth body was found by refugees after several hills collapsed from late Sunday to Monday morning.
He said another two children were found with injuries.
Officials said continuous rain and hillside torrents loosened soil on slopes, causing makeshift houses to collapse.
Tripura said the landslides affected at least four locations across the camps, burying shelters under mud and debris while residents were asleep.
“All the bodies have been handed over to the families through local refugee leaders and police,” he said.
Authorities said they were relocating the refugees from at-risk hill areas, and some 1,000 people have already been relocated.
The weather office in the capital, Dhaka, has forecast more rain in the coming days.
According to the UNHCR, 36 refugees died and at least 86 were injured in similar landslides at refugee camps between 2021 and 2026.
More than 1 million refugees who fled neighboring Myanmar live in camps in Bangladesh.
Renewed fighting in Myanmar’s Rakhine state between the military government and the Arakan Army has raised concern of a fresh influx of Rohingya refugees across the border.