<i>Search for the loved ones</i>
Fire fighters take away the body of a landslide victim at Batali Hill near Tiger Pass intersection in Chittagong yesterday. At least 15 people were killed in the landslide. Photo: Anurup Kanti Das
“I heard a big bang during the thundering rains early in the morning while I was in bed with my wife and son in our shanty and then all hell broke loose.” This was the way Amir Hossain alias Kanu, a dweller of a slum under Batali Hill near Tiger Pass intersection in Chittagong, described the landslide there yesterday which left 15 people dead. Kanu rushed out of the shanty with his wife and son, only to find his neighbouring shanties smashed under a huge pile of mud and a 70-feet long retaining wall of the hill. “I saw my sister-in-law next door trapped in waist-deep mud,” said Kanu, who told his family members to take shelter and went on to rescue her. “We heard Tanjina, the two-year-old daughter of my neighbour Bachchu Mia, crying inside the mud,” said Kanu. But they were not able to dig her out on time to save her. Bachchu, a vendor, who lost his first wife and four children in the accident, sat struck and speechless while journalists tried to get the names of the victims from him. He was saved as he spent the night with his second wife in a nearby area. His elder daughter Sharmin, who got married only around 15 days ago, had come on a visit only the previous day, only to meet her tragic death. “We were so happy when Sharmin came. But it would have been better if she had not come as she would be alive right now,” said the grieving father. The wailing of the surviving neighbours suddenly rose around 1:25pm when the dead bodies of rickshaw-puller Amjad Hossain, another dweller; his wife Rajia and their daughter Sharmin, all hailing from Rangpur, were dug out. Jarina Begum, a middle aged woman, sat waiting at the site since morning for news of her sister Minu and three other family members. Their bodies were recovered around 5:30pm. In the midst of the debris, two women, Nurjahan and her elderly mother of Kadamtali area, ran from one end to another on hearing cries of rescuers at the slightest sighting, either of a belonging or a body. She searches for her sister Hosne Ara, her nephew Sajjad and niece Shaheda, not leaving the spot even for a moment the whole day. Their search came to an end around 7:00pm when rescuers were able to see the three bodies stuck deep inside the mud. They are still to be dug out. Meanwhile, Chittagong District Administration at an emergency meeting for disaster management in the evening yesterday decided to provide Tk 20,000 to the affected families as compensation and Tk 5,000 to each victim for treatment expenses. The meeting organised by the administration at circuit house in Chittagong also decided to re-establish electricity supply in the area within 24 hours and to keep all schools open in waterlogged areas for people to take shelter. Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Chittagong Faiz Ahmed, Additional Divisional Commissioner (revenue) of Chittagong division Nurul Islam and representatives of police, the city corporation, fire service and Public Works Department were present. The meeting also decided to notify the government organisations owning the hills to evict illegal structures there, rehabilitate the evicted people in khas lands in their respective upazilas and to provide the Chittagong Metropolitan Police commissioner with the list of hill owning organisations for eviction drives. The meeting also decided to form a committee led by the additional deputy commissioner (General) with representatives of different government organisations present at the meeting to probe into the accident.
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