孟加拉国暴雨引发泥石流 50多人死亡

Heavy rains causing multiple landslides² over the past three days have killed at least 50 people in south-east Bangladesh, officials say.

孟加拉国东南部地区最近三天连降暴雨，引发多处泥石流灾害，造成至少50人死亡。

Officials are describing it as the worst monsoon³ rainfall in years in the Chittagong region. Chittagong is the second largest city of Bangladesh.

At least 150,000 people have also been stranded⁴ by the floods, officials say.

Rescue operations are continuing but rains are hampering⁵ efforts. Flights to Chittagong airport have been cancelled.

Most rail links have also been suspended after a railway bridge collapsed⁷. Days of heavy rain have caused mud banks to collapse⁶, burying houses and blocking roads.

Chittagong port received 40cm (15.75in) of rain in a single 12-hour period on Tuesday. The BBC's Anbarasan Ethirajan in Dhaka says that dozens of people are still missing and the death toll⁸ is expected to increase.

Our correspondent says that the downpours over the past five days have flooded vast areas of the city, displacing thousands of people.

"We are having the worst rainfall in many years," said Jainul Bari, district commissioner⁹ for Cox's Bazar, one of the affected¹⁰ areas.

In neighbouring Bandarban district, bodies have been recovered from multiple landslide¹ sites, local officials have said.

Bandarban police chief Saiful Ahmed told the AFP news agency that most of the victims were asleep when huge waves of mud and debris¹¹ buried them alive.

"One family has lost 12 members," Mr Ahmed said.

Other officials have said that they are expecting more heavy rains in the next few days.

Security forces have been deployed¹² to help the search and rescue effort.

Chittagong in recent years has repeatedly been hit by monsoon rains and landslides.

The government as a result has tried to tighten¹³ rules on where developments can take place.