What should have been an ordinary afternoon of learning turned into heartbreak in Bangladesh.
A landslide buried a girls’ religious school inside the world’s largest refugee camp.
At least seven students and one teacher were killed after mud and debris swept over the Islamic study centre in Cox’s Bazar on Wednesday.
Rescue workers and local residents rushed to the scene, digging frantically through thick mud to save those trapped beneath the collapsed structure.
Thirteen people were pulled out, but eight could not be saved, while five injured children remain in hospital.
“Some of them are seven, eight, 11 or 12 years old,” local district officer Panna Akhter told BBC Bangla, highlighting the devastating loss of young lives.
Landslide Raises Fears in Refugee Camps
The tragedy comes after days of relentless monsoon rain.
It has already triggered multiple deadly landslides across Cox’s Bazar.
Where more than one million Rohingya refugees live after fleeing violence in Myanmar.
Most families survive in fragile shelters made of bamboo and tarpaulin on unstable hillsides.
Leaving them especially vulnerable when heavy rain strikes.
Authorities have warned that more rainfall is on the way and are evacuating people from high-risk areas to prevent further loss of life.
For families already displaced by conflict, nature has delivered yet another cruel reminder.
Even a place of refuge cannot always guarantee safety.
