A deadly landslide buried a girls’ school in Cox’s Bazar
A sudden landslide on Wednesday afternoon covered a girls’ school inside Bangladesh’s largest Rohingya refugee settlement, killing seven students and a teacher. 13 survivors emerged from the mud, but eight were later confirmed dead by local officials.
The incident occurred amid a week of torrential monsoon rains that have already triggered several other fatal landslides in the region. The school, part of an Islamic study centre, was buried beneath mud and debris, preventing any evacuation.
Rescuers recovered the victims from deep trenches. Some of the deceased were as young as eight years old, while others were in their early teens, according to district officers. The remaining five children were taken to hospitals for emergency care.
The Rohingya, who fled a 2017 military crackdown in Myanmar, currently number over 700,000 in the Cox’s Bazar camp, living in narrow, makeshift shelters on precarious slopes. They lack citizenship in their country of origin and often live in precarious conditions.
Authorities warn of further landslides and floods as more rain is expected in the coming days and are evacuating families from high‑risk areas.
