Landslides kill almost 91 people

DHAKA (AP):

Landslides and floods caused by heavy monsoon rains killed at least 91 people in southern Bangladesh and many more were missing, the government said yesterday.

Officials said the landslides occurred mainly in remote villages with poor roads, making rescue work more difficult.

At least 37 died in Cox's Bazar, 33 in neighbouring Bandarban and another 21 in Chittagong, mostly in a series of landslides, the Disaster Management Ministry said. It said soldiers were joining the search for the missing.

Three days of torrential rain in the region of small hills and forests dislodged huge chunks of earth which buried flimsy huts where families were sleeping late Tuesday and early yesterday. Many homeless people live at the foot of the hills or close to them despite warnings from authorities.

Many of the dead were women and children, officials said. In Bandarban an 11-year-old boy was the only member of his family to survive because he was away when mud buried his hut. His parents and three siblings perished.