Heavy monsoon rains have triggered landslides across refugee camps in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, killing at least nine people — including eight Rohingya refugees and one Bangladeshi citizen — since late Sunday.
Among the deadliest incidents, a mudslide struck an Islamic studies school on Wednesday afternoon, burying a classroom while lessons were underway. Rescuers pulled 13 people from the mud; seven students and one teacher were confirmed dead, according to Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mohammad Mizanur Rahman. A separate series of landslides across four sites between Sunday night and Monday morning killed nine people in total, civil defence officer Dollar Tripura said.
Authorities have evacuated roughly 1,000 refugees from vulnerable slopes and plan to relocate thousands more. Between 2021 and 2026, similar landslides have killed 36 refugees in the camps, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.