6 die in Chittagong landslide; 3 killed in Noakhali

At least 17 persons were killed and 60 others injured, 25 of them critically, in a head-on collision between two passenger buses on the western side of the Bangabandhu Bridge of the district early Sunday.
The injured were rushed to different hospitals and clinics in Sirajganj and Bogra in a critical condition. Identities of the deceased could not be known immediately.
Sirajganj district administration has announced a grant of Taka 10,000 to each of the families of the deceased.
A five-member probe body headed by Additional District Magistrate AHM Anwar Pasha was formed to probe the incident, deputy commissioner of Sirajganj told the newsmen.
The body was asked to submit the report by three working days, he added.
“The accident occurred at Mulibari Rail Crossing around 5am when a Rangpur bound passenger bus of Sabbir Paribahan from Chittagong collided head-on with another passenger bus of Azad Paribahan bound for Dhaka from Dinajpur,” officer-in-charge (OC) Helal Uddin of Bangabandhu Setu Pashchimpar Police Station said.
At least 15 people died on the spot and 60 others were injured in the fatal accident, he said, adding that 25 of the injured suffered critical wounds. One of the drivers and a helper were killed in the accident while the condition of another driver is critical, he also said.
The injured were rushed to Sirajganj Sadar Hospital, different clinics and Bogra hospitals, he informed.
Bodies of the victims have been kept under the custody of police and will soon be handed over to their families, he added.
Deputy commissioner of Sirajganj Billal Hossain and Police Super Miraj Uddin Ahmed visited the place of occurrence.
After visiting the spot, the DC has announced to give Taka 10,000 to each of the deceased families and assured of proper monitoring to provide the injured with better treatment.
Another report from Chittagong says: Six people including five children of three families were killed in separate incidents of deadly landslide and wall collapse at city’s Bayezid and Lalkhan areas due to incessant rains hit the said locations below the hills early Sunday.
In Bayezid area, three victim children of a family were identified as Arafat Hossain, 12, Umme Salma, 5, and Morium Begum, one year-and-four-month-old died at the landslide at Amin Colony around 2am on the day.
Their (victims) father 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.
In Lalkhan area, two from the same family and one of another family were killed due to wall collapse after heavy rainfall around 1:30am, said officer-in-charge of Khulshi thana Mohammad Nizamuddin.
The victims were identified as Mariam Begum, 29, her daughter Suraiya Akhter, 2 and another girl Anthi Nur, 5, were buried alive at Pora Colony of Motizorna area under city’s Lalkhan Bazar area, he added.
All six were declared death by doctors at the Chittagong Medical College and Hospital. Minister of expatriate welfare and overseas employment Nurul Islam, BSc visited the place of occurrence and ordered to ensure the safety of the residence and asked people of neighbourhood to move to safer places.
Jasim Uddin, Additional Deputy Director of Fire Service told newsmen that these three were killed when their house was hit by the landslip and its walls came crashing down around 2am by the heavy rain.
Meanwhile, administration formed a one-member investigation team headed by Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) Ilias Hossain. The Committee asked to submit its investigation report within one week.
A total of 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, especially during the rains.
The evictions were on when the landslips hit the settlements past midnight on Sunday.
A report from Noakhali adds: Three young men were beaten and chopped to death over an issue of previous enmity on land dispute at Kazianagar village under Sonaimuri Upazila of the district Sunday afternoon.
The victims were Kamal, 36, Haroon, 32, and Babul, 27, of Kazibari village of the upazila. A source said that the three were brothers.
Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Sonaimuri Thana Kazi Haniful Islam Bhuiyan quoting the local people said some young men including Kamal, Haroon, Babul, Saddam, Anwar, Azim, Tawhid, Razu, Sharif, Rafique and Golam Maowla were enjoying a football match in the yard of Kazibari.
At one stage they involved in a clash and their opponent group, led by Golam Maowla, started beating mercilessly and chopping Kamal, Haroon and Babul and they died on the spot.
Being informed, police rushed to the spot and recovered the bodies and sent to Noakhali Abdul Malek Ukil Medical College Hospital for postmortem. –Our Monitor