Bangladesh relocates refugees after landslide kills at least 5 children

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DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Authorities in Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh used loudspeakers and a network of volunteers and community leaders to relocate people from risky areas to safety Thursday after landslides killed at least 13 refugees in the past few days.

At least five children died Wednesday when a landslide caused by monsoon rains swept through an Islamic school at a camp in Cox's Bazar, where more than 1 million Rohingya refugees from neighboring Myanmar live.

A teacher at the Islamic school described the scene from the landslide as chaotic, saying girls at the school were preparing for lessons when part of the building collapsed. “Those of us who were on the western side managed to get out, but everyone on the eastern side was buried under the debris,” said Begum Jahan, who teaches the Quran, Islam’s holy book.

“Some suffered broken arms, and some of the girls lost their lives,” she said.

People in the refugee camp started rescue operations before emergency services reached the scene, Dollar Tripura, head of the local fire service and civil defense, said Thursday. He added that emergency personnel later rescued the injured and recovered the bodies. The rescue operation was called off Wednesday evening.

Jamal Hossain, a Rohingya volunteer who helped in the rescue effort, said people rescued at the scene were sent to hospital and those that died were all women.

“However, we do not know whether there are any more bodies buried underneath,” he said.

Authorities in Cox’s Bazar said they were relocating refugees from at-risk hilly areas and that more than 1,000 people were already evacuated. They said the refugees are often reluctant to leave their makeshift homes despite warnings.

The Bangladesh weather office is forecasting more rain in the coming days.

Sunday night into Monday, landslides killed at least eight people at Rohingya camps in the area.

Local media reported at least 22 people died in the delta nation of 170 million people in landslides and wall collapses over the last three days. The death toll included the casualties at Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar, the country’s leading Bengali-language Prothom Alo daily reported.

Bangladesh has urged the international community for years to help the country begin repatriation of the refugees to Myanmar, but the process is stalled.