Landslide in Bangladesh kills many

Dhaka: Landslides triggered by heavy rains killed at least 14 people, with dozens injured, as several hillside thatched huts were buried n southeastern Bangladesh on Monday, authorities said.

Ten others are feared to be trapped under the mud, as rescue operations continued with army personnel and firefighters trying to dig people out.

Chittagong's district administrator Mohammad Ashraf Shameem said: "We are efforting to rescue the injured and those under the debris."

Rescuers recovered the bodies of three women and one child from the debris, while another injured man died en route to hospital, local police official Mohammad Faruq said.

He said another seven injured people were taken to the hospital.

Most victims were asleep in their thatched homes at the foot of a hill in Chittagong city, 220 kilometres southeast of capital Dhaka.

In Cox's Bazar beach district, police and volunteers retrieve the bodies of three members of a family, buried alive as their mud-hut collapsed after torrential rains.

Rainwater flooded a highway linking Chittagong to Bandarban hill district, and also the streets of Cox's Bazar, witnesses said.

The Chittagong weather office recorded nearly 125 millimetres of rainfall in 12 hours to Monday morning.