DHAKA, 13 June 2007 — Hundreds of rescuers tried to clear tons of mud with little hope of finding survivors a day after heavy rains triggered landslides in Bangladesh, sources said yesterday.
Rescuers dug out 20 more bodies and continued searching for more yesterday as heavy rain caused havoc in the Bangladesh port city of Chittagong, officials and witnesses said, and the country’s total flood-related deaths neared 130.
“So far, at least 102 bodies have been recovered from dozens of homes buried under tons of mud following the landslides on Monday,” one rescuer said.
“The deeper we dig down, there are more corpses,” he told Reuters.
Disaster management officials said they feared the death toll would be higher as a search by troops, firefighters, police and volunteers was intensified after the rains had eased and the water started receding.
Two women were buried alive in a separate landslide in Bandarban hill district, southeast of Chittagong, yesterday.
