Death toll from Bangladesh landslides, floods reaches 98 (Roundup)

Jun 12, 2007, 14:31 GMT

Chittagong, Bangladesh - Torrential rains in Bangladesh since the weekend have triggered landslides and flooding that have left at least 98 people dead and up to 23 missing, officials in the country's main port city said Tuesday.

The death toll from the tropical storms that began pounding the Chittagong seaport and lush rice terraces in the five northeastern districts from late Sunday rose to 98 as civil defence rescuers dug out 31 more bodies since Monday from the rubble of two major landslides.

Unofficial figures, however, put the death toll at over 100 in the worst incident of mudslides from the low height hills dotting the landscape of the port city.

The military-backed interim government in a country gripped by political chaos recently declared the port city a disaster zone deploying thousands of soldiers, paramilitary police and civilian volunteers for rescue and search missions in hazardous conditions.

Port operations have remained suspended for the last 48 hours because of heavy showers and gale winds battering the Bay of Bengal coast.

Officials said the rain swept port city remained under knee deep water while emergency workers used boats as transports.

Chittagong is located 275 kilometres south of the capital Dhaka.

'It is a national emergency and we must unite the nation to face the calamity,' said Fakhruddin Ahmed, the executive head of the caretaker regime.

Ahmed flew into the port city Tuesday to personally monitor the rescue operation and the distribution of relief materials among the 400 people who survived the ordeal but were injured and made homeless.

The annual Monsoon dumped heavy rains in five northeastern districts in the Sylhet region touching off flash floods making about 50,000 people homeless, disaster management officials said.

The seasonal rains swelled the rivers Surma and the Khowai threatening the existence of 300 villages along the unstable coast.