DHAKA, Bangladesh — Eight children lost their lives and five others were hurt Wednesday when torrential monsoon rains caused a landslide that buried a madrassa at a Rohingya refugee camp in southeastern Bangladesh, according to officials.
Rescuers pulled 13 children from beneath the mud and debris that had engulfed the religious school. Eight of those children did not survive, while the remaining five were taken to medical facilities within the camp for treatment.
The tragedy follows a series of deadly weather events in the same area earlier this week. Separate rain-triggered landslides had already claimed the lives of eight Rohingya refugees — including women and children — in the camps just days before Wednesday’s disaster.
More than 1.2 million Rohingya refugees are crowded into camps in Cox’s Bazar, which is recognized as the world’s largest refugee settlement. The population fled to Bangladesh after a military crackdown in neighboring Buddhist-majority Myanmar in 2017.
The vast majority of families there live in temporary shelters constructed from bamboo and tarpaulins, perched on steep, deforested hillsides that offer little protection against the landslides that threaten the region each monsoon season.
Authorities have been working to move families away from the most dangerous areas as rainfall continues to intensify the risk. The Bangladesh Meteorological Department has predicted additional rain in the days ahead, and officials say they are remaining on high alert for further landslides and flash flooding.
