At least 10 people, including children and elderly people, have died of diarrhoea in Kurukpata union in Alikadam upazila, Bandarban, while at least 136 people have been affected, said locals and the union parishad chairman.
“Of the 10 deceased, one was a child, five women and four men,” said Kratpung Mro, chairman of Kurukpata Union Parishad.
He also said that due to acute water crisis, locals are forced to drink water from streams and springs in the villages under different upazilas of the hilly district, including Thanchi, Alikadam, Naikkhonglchhari and Ruma. As a result, there are reports of diarrhoea, abdominal pain and other ailments every year.
The UP chairman added that Menliu (Yuncha) para and Mangrupara are the most affected, while outbreaks of diarrhoea have been reported in seven more villages.
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Meanwhile, Inter-Services Public Relations Directorate on Tuesday said that 136 men, women and children were now mortally ill with diarrhoea in Bandarban. Necessary medicines as well as drinking water, water purification tablets and saline have been distributed there.
Alikadam Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md Saeed Iqbal said the army had set up a temporary medical camp in Alikadam, where medical services would be provided to the sick.
Upazila Health and Family Planning Officer Dr Md Mahtab Uddin Chowdhury said the army and health services division have been providing medical services jointly since Monday afternoon.
Two people are in critical condition; if their condition does not improve, they will be brought to the sadar upazila, he added.
“According to the information I have, seven people have died and my medical team is providing medical services there,” he said.
Dr Angsui Pru, a civil surgeon in Bandarban, also confirmed tht people in several neighborhoods in the Alikadam-Thanchi border area were suffering from diarrhoea.
Medical teams are working in the affected areas, he added.
