At least five houses and two shops were destroyed in a landslide in Cox’s Bazar town. Fifteen other families have also been affected.
The landslide occurred in the early hours of Saturday at the town’s Muhuripara. A forest official said hill cutting was one of the causes of the incident.
No casualty has been reported.
Landslides, triggered by heavy monsoon rains and deforestation, are common in Bangladesh’s hilly areas. They claim many lives every year.
Locals said chunks of a 150-foot hill collapsed on the south side of the BSCIC Industrial Area. Many affected houses developed cracks. Images received from the site show people clearing earth from the rooftops of tin-shed houses at the foot of the hill.
People living in the risk-prone area have been evacuated, said Cox’s Bazar Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md Habibul Hasan.
Sadar Upazila Jhilonga Union Chairman Tipu Sultan said two shops and five houses were destroyed in the mudslide.
“There has been no casualty but panic has gripped people living at the foot of the hills,” he said.
Md Ali Kabir, divisional forest officer of Cox's Bazar (south forest zone), said the hill slide was caused by incessant rain.
“Locals had cut off parts of the 150-foot five-acre hill. This allowed the rainwater to easily enter the hill’s layers, triggering the land slide,” he explained. “Cracks have appeared on parts of the hill. So, there are chances of further hill slides.”