Monsoon rains trigger landslides killing 16 in Bangladesh's Rohingya camps, eight at girls' school

Deadly week in Cox's Bazar

Heavy monsoon rains since Sunday triggered multiple landslides in the Rohingya refugee camps of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. At least 16 people have died, according to local authorities. The worst incident occurred Wednesday afternoon when a mudslide engulfed a girls' Islamic study center inside the camp.

Wednesday's school collapse

A mudslide hit the school, burying an estimated ten students and a teacher. Rescue workers pulled 13 people from the debris, eight of whom died (four at the scene and four at a hospital), said Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner. Five children were hospitalized. Panna Akhter, a local district officer, told the BBC that some victims were as young as seven.

Rescuers pulled 13 people from the mud that engulfed their school hut, eight of whom died.

Some of them are seven, eight, 11 or 12 years old.

Earlier landslides on Monday

On Monday, additional landslides claimed the lives of eight refugees in the same camps, officials confirmed. Those deaths bring the toll to at least 16 since the start of the week. The exact number of injured remains unclear.

World's largest refugee settlement

Cox's Bazar hosts over one million Rohingya people, making it the largest refugee settlement in the world. Most fled a violent military crackdown in Myanmar. The camp structures, often built on deforested hillsides, are highly vulnerable to monsoon-related disasters.

Response and ongoing risks

Search and rescue efforts continued Wednesday evening, officials said. The monsoon season in Bangladesh runs from June to October and regularly causes deadly landslides and flooding. Authorities have not yet issued evacuation orders for the camps.