Dhaka: A landslide caused by monsoon rains killed at least five children as it swept through an Islamic school at a camp for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh’s southeastern Cox’s Bazar district, a fire official said.
More than 1 million refugees live in the camp. Dollar Tripura, local chief of the Fire Service and Civil Defence, said the landslide hit as children were attending classes. Tripura said they rescued another five injured children but suspected that more could be buried.
The rescue operation continued Wednesday evening.
Three days earlier, landslides killed at least eight people at Rohingya camps in the area.
The weather office in the South Asian nation’s capital, Dhaka, forecast more rain in the coming days.
Authorities said they were relocating refugees from at-risk hilly areas and more than 1,000 people were already relocated. They said the refugees are often reluctant to leave their makeshift homes despite warnings.
Bangladesh has urged the international community for years to help the country begin repatriation of the refugees to Myanmar, but the process is stalled.
