Death toll from Bangladesh landslides rises to 134

The death toll from early Tuesday's devastating rain-triggered landslides in Bangladesh's three southeastern districts has risen to 134, as rescuers retrieved more bodies including those of two army officers, officials said.

Since Monday morning, heavy rains swept through Bangladesh's districts of Chittagong, Bandarban and Rangamati, and triggered huge landslides early Tuesday, burying many in their homes as they slept.

Four members of the Bangladesh Army including two of its officers were killed in a landslide in Rangamati district, said Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR) of Bangladesh Army.

Lieutenant Colonel Md Rashidul Hasan, director of ISPR, told Xinhua that 10 army men were also injured in the incident while another remained missing.

The two army officers died while conducting a rescue operation in the worst landslide that hit the area, he said.

The identities of all the deceased could not be immediately known.

Rangamati Police Chief Sayeed Tarikul Hassan told Xinhua that flooding caused by incessant rain has inundated many areas of the district since Monday, where around 30 centimeters of rainfall were recorded in 24 hours till 9 a.m. local time (0400 GMT) Tuesday.

Rescue operations are still underway as rescue teams are searching for more bodies buried under mud and debris with shovels and bare hands, he said.

"More people were feared dead under the mud," he said without specifying the number of the dead.

A Rangamati district administration official who preferred to be unnamed said rescuers have retrieved 45 bodies in the district, some 391 km away from capital Dhaka.

In the Bandarban district located some 316 km away from capital Dhaka, seven people have been killed in landslides.

Police have retrieved their bodies from under the mud with the help of local people, Bandarban Superintendent of Police Sanjeeb Kumar Roy told Xinhua.

Nineteen people have reportedly died in the southern district of Chittagong, another landslide danger zone where telephone and transport links have been cut.

Police warned that the death toll would likely rise as emergency workers reached remote parts of the Chittagong Hills, some 242 km away from Dhaka.

About 15 people were missing in Bandarban and Chittagong, feared buried under mud, according to officials.

Dhaka's flood forecasting center said Tuesday that the water-level in all the major rivers was rising, while some were flowing above the danger mark.

The downpour is caused by Monday's depression in the Bay of Bengal which influenced the entire country.

Landslides frequently occur in Bangladesh's hilly areas during heavy monsoons that usually run from June to September.

In June 2007, some 123 people were killed in a devastating landslide in the Chittagong district.