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Rescuers Battle to Reach Victims of Bangladesh Landslides

Rescuers Battle to Reach Victims of Bangladesh Landslides
Rescuers Battle to Reach Victims of Bangladesh Landslides

Rescue workers battled to reach victims of the worst landslides ever to hit Bangladesh on Wednesday, as the death toll rose to 145, with dozens more missing. Television footage from some of the worst-hit areas showed villagers using shovels to try to dig bodies out of the mud that engulfed their homes as they slept in the early hours of Tuesday, AFP reported. Authorities say hundreds of hillside homes were buried by landslides in the southeast of the country after heavy monsoon rains, with 343 millimeters (13.5 inches) of rain falling on the area on Monday. The head of the Disaster Management Department, Reaz Ahmed, said the landslides were the worst in the country’s history and warned the toll would rise as rescuers reached cutoff areas. Firefighters in the worst-hit district of Rangamati said they had pulled 18 people out from under the mud on Tuesday, but did not have the manpower to reach all the affected areas.

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