DHAKA – At least six people, including three Rohingya refugees, died and several others were injured on Sept 13 after heavy rains triggered landslides in south-eastern Bangladesh, officials said.

The landslides took place in two separate places in the border district of Cox’s Bazar, including the Rohingya camps, after three days of intense late monsoon rains, said Mr Mohammad Shamsud Douza, a senior Bangladeshi government official overseeing refugee affairs.

More than one million Rohingya live in squalid camps in Cox’s Bazar, the world’s largest refugee settlement, many having fled from a military crackdown in neighbouring Myanmar in 2017. The refugees mostly live in flimsy shelters made of bamboo and plastic sheets, often situated on unstable, steep hillsides.

Three other people were killed in Cox’s Bazar town, where heavy rainfall has caused widespread waterlogging, another official said.

The Cox’s Bazar weather office recorded 378mm of rainfall from 6am on Sept 12 to 6am on Sept 13, marking the highest rainfall of the monsoon season so far, meteorologist Abdul Hannan said.

The South Asian country is still recovering from a deadly flood after torrential rains and upstream water from India left more than 70 dead and displaced millions. REUTERS