Seven Rohingya children and a madrasa teacher were killed after a landslide buried a religious school in a refugee camp in Ukhiya, Cox’s Bazar, on Wednesday afternoon, just days after another landslide claimed eight refugee lives.
The latest disaster struck Block A-3 of Camp 5 at around 2:45pm, trapping children inside the madrasa as rain-soaked earth collapsed onto the building.
Rescuers recovered 13 people from the debris, according to Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mizanur Rahman.
“Eight people have been confirmed dead – seven children and one teacher. Four died at the scene, while four others succumbed to their injuries at hospitals,” Rahman told Daily Waadaa.
Five injured children remain under treatment at health facilities in different camps.
The rescue operation, led by the Fire Service with support from camp management volunteers, has been completed, Rahman said. Personnel from the Armed Police Battalion (APBn) and officials from the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commission supervised the operation.
Earlier in the day, Mohammad Siraj Amin, additional DIG and commander of the APBn unit responsible for the camps, confirmed multiple deaths and injuries as rescuers searched through the rubble.
Cox’s Bazar Deputy Commissioner Abdul Mannan initially confirmed three deaths while the operation was under way, warning that the number could rise.
Two of the victims were identified as sisters Umme Nesat, 13, and Umme Salma, 11, residents of Camp 3.
The tragedy comes after days of relentless monsoon rain that have triggered floods and repeated landslides across the Rohingya settlements.
Before Wednesday’s incident, 12 people had already died in landslides across Cox’s Bazar this monsoon season, according to Mannan. The latest deaths push the district’s seasonal landslide toll to at least 20.
Wednesday’s disaster also came only days after another landslide in the refugee camps killed eight Rohingya refugees.
The camps remain acutely vulnerable to landslides, with nearly one million Rohingya living in densely packed shelters built on deforested, unstable hillsides. Prolonged monsoon rains frequently saturate the exposed slopes, triggering deadly collapses.