25 killed in Bangladesh mudslides

At least 25 people were killed today in mudslides triggered by a heavy monsoon downpour in a hilly south-eastern Bangladesh port city, rescue officials said.

Parts of a hill collapsed on a hillside shantytown near a military area in the city, burying dozens of bamboo and straw shanties.

Army rescuers pulled out at least 11 bodies from the debris, police officer Akhter said. Six others died in another hillside slum near a power station, police officer Mamun said.

Another five members of a family died when walls of their brick home collapsed in heavy rain on the Chittagong University campus, a fire brigade officer said.

Two others were killed when walls of their houses collapsed, and a policeman was electrocuted after stepping on snapped electric wire, the officer at a fire brigade control room said.

About 100 residents, meanwhile, were trapped in their homes as rainwater and mud blocked roads around a posh hilltop residential area.

Flash floods and inundated roads were hampering rescue efforts and traffic in the city of 4 million, 135 miles south-east of the capital, Dhaka. Many schools and businesses also were forced to close for the day.

Nearly five inches of rain fell over nine hours, the local weather bureau said.

Activities were also halted at the country’s main port in the city on the Bay of Bengal, port authorities said.