News Archive

Five lynched in Chittagong

Nov15, 2005 Five persons including four dacoits and an accused of murder case were lynched while another one was injured in two separate incidents in the district on Monday and Tuesday. The persons killed by mob were identified as Jamsad 20, son of Nurul Bashar, Shamsul Alam, 32, son of Al Amin, Didarul Alam,32, son of Jalal Ahmed, Salehuddin, 33, son of Abul Hossin, all from Barubkhundhu area under Sitakhundhu thana, and Abul Kalam,40, son of Delwar Hossain, from Sheikhpara of Pahartali area under Raozan thana in the district. The injured dacoit is Morshed who saved himself jumping into the sea, now received treatment at local health complex. Police said the four dacoits killed on the spot in a beating by the fishermen at Sandwip Channel when they caught them during an attempt to commit dacoity at the fishing boat along with their others accomplices at the early hours of yesterday. The fishermen threw the dacoits into the sea after ensuring their death. The serious injured Morshed is under treatment at local health complex. Agitated villagers killed Kalam, a fugitive and main accused of Gram Sarkar member Meherurzaman killing case at 10 am today at Sheikh para area. Kalam went to his village after ten months in fugitive's life. REPORTS FROM TheNewNation.com

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Monsoon triggers rains, more likely

Sep 25, 2005 A fairly active monsoon after a gap of few days triggered overnight showers across the country with some heavy falls at places this morning, Met Office sources said, reports BSS. Chittagong recorded 99 mm rain in three hours between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. and Dhaka logged 48 mm during the same time. Earlier, Khepupara had a total of 77 mm overnight rain until 6 a.m. The reason behind this sudden burst of monsoon rains was due to conjugation of a westerly system entering the country over the northwest with a south-easterly system, carrying moistures from the Bay of Bengal, meteorologists said. Though the rains had been fairly widespread across the country, the southwestern region except Chuadanga, with 22 mm, and Jessore, just a few drops, remained dry, a situation continuing there since the rains in Khulna and Mongla regions earlier last week due to the influence of a depression turning into a land depression over the Indian state of Orissa. Elsewhere, Maijdee in the southeast recorded 48 mm followed by Sandwip, 33 mm. Sylhet to the northeast had 34 mm, while Tangail and Rajshahi in the northwest recorded 29 mm and 26 mm of rains respectively till 6 am Saturday, the Met Office records said. Meteorologists said that the wet weather may prevail for a couple of days. The forecast for the next 24 hours beginning at 9am Saturday said that light to moderate rains accompanied by thundershowers with temporary gusty winds are likely at many places over Rajshahi, Dhaka and Sylhet divisions and at few places over Khulna, Barisal and Chittagong divisions. Moderate to moderately heavy showers are also likely at many places. The day temperature may remain unchanged, the forecast added. The Brahmaputra-Jamuna continued to fall further at all points except at Noonkhawa and Aricha. The Ganges-Padma observed rise at upstream points. The rivers in the Meghna and the South Eastern Hill basins registered rise and fall. Out of 86 monitoring points, (on the basis of data availability) 28 points observed rise, 39 points recorded fall and four points remained steady. REPORTS FROM financialexpress-bd.com

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Bangladesh swamped as storms cause chaos

Sep 20, 2005 Dhaka - Six fishermen are missing and 12 000 Bangladeshi villagers have been forced to flee their homes after rough weather hit the Bay of Bengal and tidal waves of up to two metres swamped some coastal villages, officials said on Tuesday. Nearly 10 000 people took refuge in cyclone shelters near their homes when a levee was breached in a low-lying area of the southern Sandwip island on Monday, said Golam Rabbani, head of the Chittagong Red Crescent branch. Relief officials also evacuated a further 2 000 people from the southern district of Barguna after floodwater up to four feet deep inundated their homes, said district relief officer Shamsul Alam. REPORTS FROM www.int.iol.co.za

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6,000 leave houses in BD for tidal surge

Sep 20, 2005 Tidal surge triggered by the depression inundated low-lying areas at Sandwip in Chittagong and forced over 6,000 people to take shelter at local cyclone centres in the past two days, the Red Crescent officials and police said in Chittagong. However, AFP quoted some officials as saying that 12,000 people had taken refuge in the protection centres. Many areas in the island were submerged due to flooding caused by the depression, which had crossed over an Indian island. Golam Rabbani, local chief of the Red Crescent, said the tidal wave had damaged hundreds of houses. Water easily entered the island through the breaches of the protection embankment after the sea became rough with heavy tidal wave due to the depression, Mr Rabbani said, adding that the affected people had no way but to take shelter at the cyclone centres. Tidal wave of 3-4 feet high than normal also inundated some places at Anwara and Banshkhali coastal areas causing sufferings to the local people, he added, saying that the situation might improve with the recession of seawater from the affected areas. REPORTS FROM http://www.dawn.com/2005/09/21/top16.htm

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Tidal surge hits Bangladesh

Aug 24, 2005 Chittagong - A 10-year-old boy was killed and some 35 000 people forced to flee when floods trigged by a tidal surge swamped southern coastal areas of Bangladesh, officials said Wednesday. The boy drowned late on Tuesday at Gohira village in Chittagong district as his family struggled to reach higher ground. Torrential monsoons rains worsened the flooding which has also damaged crops. "At least 35 000 people took refuge in cyclone shelters as their homes were inundated by tidal water in low-lying areas of Sandwip island, Anwara and Banskali, " said Golam Rabbani, head of the Chittagong Red Crescent branch. Anwara and Banskali are two coastal districts of Chittagong. "Most of their homes remain under water and the situation has worsened with the continuation of torrential rainfall," Rabbani said. Bangladesh suffers monsoon floods nearly every year. But last year the country was swept by the worst floods in six years in which 700 people died and millions were left homeless.

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People flee homes as tide rises

Aug 22, 2005 - Chittagong - Unusually high tides partially submerged an offshore island on Monday in southeastern Bangladesh, forcing nearly 20 000 residents to flee their flooded homes for cyclone shelters, a Red Crescent official said.

The tidal surge submerged almost two-thirds of Sandwip island under 1.5m of sea water, Golam Rabbani of the Red Crescent, the Islamic equivalent of the Red Cross, said by telephone from the nearby port city of Chittagong.

"The sea rose slowly since Sunday, so people had time to take shelter, " Rabbani said.

The weather bureau said a depression brewing in the Bay of Bengal and the pull of a full moon were likely causing the high tides. It also warned all fishing boats to stay close to shore along the country's southern coast. High tides also breached protective mud embankments and inundated low-lying areas of Chittagong, 217km southeast of the capital, Dhaka. In Sandwip, schools were closed and at least 20 000 islanders sought refuge in 20 shelters - raised concrete buildings that dot Bangladesh's cyclone-prone coastline. Local authorities have asked for emergency relief supplies, Rabbani said.

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5 missing in Bay as boat capsizes

Aug 2, 2005: Five fishermen went missing as a fishing boat capsized in the Bay today (Sunday). Police said the fishing boat, carrying the fishermen of Santashpur village in Sandwip, sank in the sea as it was hit by a tidal wave. The fishermen set out for fishing Saturday night.

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