Death toll from Rangamati landslides rises to 120

The authorities have declared dead the two missing people in the aftermath of landslides in Rangamati, taking the death toll in the district to 120.

There is no more missing person, Rangamati Deputy Commissioner Manzarul Mannan said at a media briefing on Wednesday.

They have been identified as Shajahan, 9, and Ruby Akter, 37, from the Vedvedi neighbourhood in the southeastern hilly district of Rangamati.

They went missing after a number of houses were buried under mud nine days ago.

The families of the dead have been given more than Tk 2.3 million while the injured people have received Tk 600,000 in total, according to the deputy commissioner.

The district administration also distributed Tk 1.2 million and 5 tonnes of rice among the families who took refuge in the government-arranged shelters.

Heavy rains due to a low in the Bay triggered the landslides in Rangamati and five other districts, killing at least 167 people.

Road opens to lighter vehicles

The road communications between Chittagong and Rangamati have resumed, but initially, only the lighter vehicles are allowed to ply on the route.

The road reopened after the damaged portion at Sapchharhi Shalbagan around 2:30pm, Rangamati Roads and Highways Department or RHD Executive Engineer Emdad Hossain told bdnews24.com.

A large stretch of the road in that area, some 61 kilometres from Chittagong, vanished in the landslides. The RHD and the army personnel later repaired the damaged parts of the road.

Until the road was reopened, people were travelling from Rangamati to this portion on auto-rickshaws. They were crossing this stretch on foot and talking auto-rickshaws on the other side again to travel to Chittagong.

Road Transport and Highways Secretary MAN Siddique said 145 points in seven roads from Rangamati to Chittagong, Bandarban, and Khagrhachharhi were affected or covered by mud last week. Besides those, 37 points were damaged. The RHD and the army were repairing all the damaged roads.

Siddique expects all the roads to reopen for heavy vehicles within a month.