Landslide kills five from two families in Bandarban

Five members of two families were killed in two separate landslides in the same area of Lama upazila of Bandarban. 

Among the deceased are a husband and wife from one family and their five-year-old child, and a husband and wife from another family.

The two accidents occurred in the Missionpara (Paglir Jhiri) area of Azijnagar union of the upazila on Thursday morning.

Police and local sources said that the first landslide occurred around 4am. At that time, the soil of the mountain collapsed and fell on a house. Md Yunus, 40, his wife Ranu Akhter, 35, and their five-year-old son Md Soleman of the same family were buried in the mud while they were sleeping and died on the spot.

About an hour and a half later, at around 5:30am, another landslide occurred in the same area. In this incident, the husband and wife Md Jewel, 34, and Kulsuma Akhter, 25, were killed when the wall of their one-storey mud house collapsed and they were buried in the mud.

After the accident, people in the vicinity rushed to the scene after hearing the screams of the locals. 

Later, the fire service and police members carried out a rescue operation and recovered the bodies of five people.

Bandarban Police Superintendent Md Ohabul Islam Khandaker confirmed the incident and said that five people, including children, were killed in two separate landslides in the same area. 

The bodies have been recovered, he said, adding, legal proceedings are ongoing in the incident.