6 including 5 children killed in Chittagong landslip

A deadly landslip triggered by incessant rains hit two locations below the hills of Chittagong and killed six people including five children.

The landslip led to collapse of house walls at Lalkhan Bazar and Amin Colony under Bayezid police station past midnight early on Sunday.

Mariam Begum, 29, her daughter Suraiya Akhter, 2 and another girl Anthi Nur, 5, were buried alive at Pora Colony in Lalkhan Bazar's Motijhorna area, officials said.

Chittagong's additional commissioner Tahmilur Rahman told bdnews24.com that these three were killed when their house was hit by the landslip and its walls came crashing down around 2am.

Rahman said three children of a family were also killed in Amin Colony below the hills of Bayazid Tank around 1:30am.

They were identified as Bibi Mariam, 18 months, Salma, 5, and Arafat Hossain Farid, 12, all children of mechanic Mohammed Shahjahan.

All three were declared dead by doctors at the Chittagong Medical College and Hospital.

Shahjahan, who hails from Noakhali Sadar, had recently moved into a rented house in Amin Colony, residents said.

The colony is an illegal settlement resulting from encroachment.

127 people residing in similar settlements had died during the deadly landslips in the hills of Chittagong in June 2007 after heavy rains .

That prompted the administration to resort to periodic eviction of these illegal settlements on and below the hills of Chittagong, specially during the rains.

The evictions were on when the landslips hit the settlements past midnight on Sunday.