Thunderstorm, flooding, landslides kill 16 in Bangladesh

Lightning, rain-triggered flooding and landslides havekilled at least 16 people in Bangladesh as parts of the South Asiancountry were deluged by heavy monsoon rain, officials said onSaturday. Thirteen were killed in lightning strikes while the rest died inflooding and landslides, prompting the authorities to evacuatehundreds of residents to emergency shelters in flood-hit areas of thecountry.Asif Anam, a local government official in the western Paban district,said four people, including three members of a family, immediatelydied after being hit by lighting as they processed raw jute at amarshland during the inclement weather. The electrical storm left a fisherman and three farmers dead innorth-eastern Mymensingh district as they were out in the open duringthe disturbance, said police officer Firoj Talukder.Officer Munshi Asaduzzaman said three day-labourers died in alightning strike as they were unloading a banana-laden truck inwestern Chuadanga district.In May 2015, at least 40 people were killed during a thunderstormthat swept parts of Bangladesh. Meteorologists say people's lack ofknowledge about keeping safe in electrical storms cause the highnumber of fatalities due to lightning.Two people were killed in the south-eastern Rangamati district aftertheir homes were buried under chunks of mud that fell from anadjacent hill due to heavy rain in the last couple of days, disastermanagement official Balinur Begum told dpa by phone. The body of one man was retrieved from a river after two people wentmissing in a flash flood in the Bandarban hills, while two otherswere killed during thunderbolts in north-eastern Sunamganj district,she said. Three others were rescued in the port city of Chattogram after theybecame trapped inside a home that was also buried because of therain-triggered mudslide.Flooding of vast areas in the south-eastern hill districts ofKhagrachhari, Rangamati and Bandarban have forced many residents torush to emergency shelters. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that her government had taken everypreparation to tackle the flooding.More than 1,300 people were evacuated in Rangamati district alone,Begum said, adding that rescuers have been working hard to bring theflood-affected people to 131 state-run shelters from the remote hillsin Bandarban.Parts of Bangladesh have been experiencing heavy rain because of theactive monsoon since Monday, when two more people were killed inlandslides in Rangamati.Bangladesh's national weather service has forecast heavy rainfall inthe next 24 hours, with an end in sight for Sunday morning. It warnedof more landslides in hilly areas and urged residents to move tosafety.Deaths from mudslides during the monsoon are common in Bangladesh.More than 150 people were killed in a series of rain-triggeredlandslides in the southern hilly districts of Chittagong, Rangamatiand Bandarban in June 2017. Meanwhile, several thousand residents in northern parts of thecountry were marooned as major rivers flowed at dangerously highlevels, due to heavy rainfall upstream in the Indian states of Assam,Meghalaya and West Bengal.Bangladesh's Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre warned that thewater level may continue to rise further.