Landslides death toll rises to 158

The death toll from landslides in Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar and the three hill districts has risen further to 158 as two more bodies were found in Rangamati on Saturday. With the newly-found bodies, the death toll in Rangamati alone has jumped to 116, the highest in the disaster. Our correspondent reported that locals at the district’s Jurachhari upazila recovered the bodies of Chiyong Chakma, 18, and Chiachokha Chakma, 17. However, the sadar upazila was the most affected site which saw the deaths of 65 people. Tuesday’s landslides claimed the lives of 32 in Chittagong with six dead in Bandarban and two each in Khagrachhari and Cox’s Bazar. In another development, a delegation of the Army Engineering Core inspected the affected roads in Rangamati in the morning. He then said it may take another three days to resume normal traffic flow after repairing the damage in 50 spots across the district. On Friday, Emdad Hossain, executive engineer of the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) in Rangamari, said roads caved in at 37 spots with heavy damage in 145 locations  across the district. “It would take at least two more days to help light vehicles ply the roads and highways  here,” he said, adding that two more weeks may be required to complete the repair works. Traffic from and to Rangamati is still badly affected as seven routes linking the district to Bandarban, Khagrachhari and Chittagong remained closed.