United News of Bangladesh

Continuous heavy rainfall overnight has caused severe waterlogging in Cumilla city, leaving roads, residential areas and low-lying neighbourhoods submerged and causing immense suffering to residents. Around 107 millimetres of rain was recorded in just three hours from Monday morning to 9am, turning many parts of the city into waterlogged areas. In some places, water has risen to knee level, while some areas have been inundated up to the waist. Thousands of people are facing hardship as rainwater has entered homes and businesses. Low-income families, daily wage earners and workers have been among the worst affected. Since Monday morning, most of the city’s roads have remained under water, disrupting traffic movement. Office-goers have faced difficulties reaching their workplaces, while many students were seen heading to schools and colleges in soaked clothes. Parents have also expressed concern over their children’s safety due to the waterlogging. The worst-affected areas include Zilla School Road, Police Lines, Race Course, Chartha, Thakurpara, BSCIC Industrial Park, Gobindapur, Muradpur and nearby Chhayabitan area. Water has entered many homes, shops and low-lying buildings. In several places, overflowing drains have spread dirty water mixed with waste onto roads, worsening public suffering. Taking advantage of the situation, some rickshaw and battery-powered auto-rickshaw drivers have increased fares by up to double, forcing passengers to pay extra. The Cumilla Meteorological Office said 138.2 millimetres of rainfall was recorded in the district in the last 24 hours. Of this, 107 millimetres was recorded between Monday morning and 9am. The weather office has forecast more heavy rainfall throughout the day, raising concerns that the waterlogging situation may worsen further.

A village doctor was killed and two others were injured after being hit by a private car in Khoksa upazila of Kushtia on Sunday. The deceased was identified as Dilip Bhowmik, 55, son of late Rishi Bhowmik of Betbaria village in the upazila. The injured were identified as Md Iqbal Kazi, 35, son of Siraj Kazi of Ambaria village, and Md Saidul Islam, 33, son of Ramzan Ali of the same village. Locals said that a speeding private car hit the rear of a van, locally known as a "Pakhi", in front of the abandoned building of the Upazila Land Office at around 4:30pm. Following the impact, the driver and a passenger of the van fell onto the road. The van overturned and hit pedestrian Dilip Bhowmik. Police said the injured were rescued in critical condition and taken to the emergency department of the Upazila Health Complex. After receiving primary treatment, Dilip Bhowmik was referred to Kushtia General Hospital for advanced treatment, where he died while undergoing treatment at around 6pm. Locals said they had caught the driver of the private car after the accident, but he later managed to escape, leaving the vehicle behind. Dr Sabuj Ahmed, a doctor on duty at the emergency department of the Upazila Health Complex, said two injured people had been admitted to the hospital and were in stable condition. Khoksa Police Station OC (Investigation) Mosharraf Hossain said no case had been filed in connection with the incident yet. "If a case is filed, an investigation will be conducted to identify the driver and the vehicle involved in the accident," he added.

Several areas under Daulatpur and Khanjahan Ali police stations in Khulna city flooded following heavy rainfall that began on Friday midnight and continued until Sunday night. Low-lying roads, drains, homes and educational institutions are underwater, causing suffering to hundreds of families. Many households reported damage to furniture and kitchen items as floodwater entered their homes. Locals said several areas under Khanjahan Ali Police Station, including parts of Wards 4, 7 and 9 of Jogipol, Jabdipur, Teligati, Dhalipara, Khanabari, Bil Dakatia village and the Government Laboratory High School intersection, have been severely affected. Several areas under Daulatpur Police Station, including Pabla, Uttar Banikpara and Maheshwarpasha Paschimpara, have also been flooded. Low-lying areas under Khalishpur Police Station, including Bastuhara, Mujgunni and Goalkhali, have suffered similar problems. A number of educational institutions have been affected by the flooding, including Government Teachers Training College, Higher Secondary Teacher Training Institute, Government Laboratory High School, Women’s Technical Training Centre, Kharabari Girls High School, Shaheed Zia Adarsha Mahavidyalaya, Khanjahan Ali Technical and BM College, Teligati Secondary School, Udayan Government Primary School, Pratibha Pre-Cadet School, Mizan Academy and Alhera Pre-Cadet Madrasa. Parts of Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET), including its main gate, playground and residential halls, have also been inundated. Many classrooms and institutional buildings have been affected.  

Four members of a family were killed and two others critically injured after a truck rammed a battery-powered three-wheeler, locally known as a Mithila, in Nilphamari's Domar upazila on Sunday. The deceased were identified as three wheeler driver Parimal Barman Roy, 40; Pratima Barman Roy, 30, wife of Parimal's younger brother Pradip Barman Roy; and Pratima's two children, Bipasha Barman, 8, and Jadab Barman, 4. Pratima's four-year-old twin, Namrat Barman, and another passenger, Shahidul Islam, 40, sustained critical injuries. The injured were initially taken to Domar Upazila Health Complex before being shifted to Rangpur Medical College Hospital as their condition worsened. Witnesses said the family was on its way to attend a wedding in Moraler Danga village under Boragari union when the accident occurred around 3:30pm. A truck travelling from Jaldhaka towards Domar rammed the three-wheeler from behind before veering off the road, leaving four people dead on the spot. Md Habibullah Habib, officer-in-charge (OC) of Domar Police Station, said police and firefighters recovered the bodies and sent the injured to hospital. The truck driver and his helper fled the scene. Legal action is underway, the OC added.

Train services on Dhaka-Cox’s Bazar and Chattogram-Cox’s Bazar routes resumed on Sunday after Bangladesh Railway completed emergency repairs to flood-damaged tracks. Train services remained  suspended after sections of the railway line between Janalihat and Sholoshahar stations on Chattogram-Cox’s Bazar route were submerged due to several days of torrential rain and flash floods, said a press release of Bangladesh Railway. Anisur Rahman, Director of Public Relations at Bangladesh Railway, said repair work began immediately after the flood situation improved and railway engineers restored  Janalihat-Sholoshahar section within a short time. The Parjatak Express which departed Dhaka at 1:30 pm on Sunday resumed its onward journey from Chattogram to Cox’s Bazar. The railway authorities also expressed regret for the disruption to passenger services caused by the natural disaster.  

Every monsoon brings the same ordeal for students, teachers and parents at Sher-e-Bangla Secondary Girls' in Patuakhali, where chronic waterlogging and ageing infrastructure continue to disrupt education and raise serious safety concerns. For the 857 students enrolled at the historic institution, classes are frequently interrupted as rainwater inundates the campus, while deteriorating buildings leave teachers and guardians worried about the safety of children. Five years on, unfinished bridge leaves 10,000 Patuakhali residents stranded Established in 1969, Sher-e-Bangla Secondary Girls' School is one of the oldest educational institutions in southern Bangladesh. It has around 30 teachers and staff and five academic buildings, most of which are several decades old.

A local leader of Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal was critically injured after a group of assailants attacked him with sharp weapons in Chuadanga municipality on Saturday night, severing his left wrist and inflicting severe injuries to other parts of the body. The victim is Jahin Sheikh, 39, former assistant sports affairs secretary of Chuadanga district Jubo Dal and son of Rajab Ali of Hat Kaluganj village under the municipality. Man beaten to death in Chuadanga over financial dispute Locals said the miscreants swooped on Jahin near the Homeopathy College around 11:00pm, leaving him seriously injured. He got his left wrist severed apart from deep wounds to various parts of the body. Locals rescued the injured and first took him Chuadanga Sadar Hospital. As his condition deteriorated due to excessive bleeding, he was later referred to the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (NITOR), commonly known as the Pangu Hospital, in Dhaka for advanced treatment. Dr Nazmus Sakib, the duty doctor at the emergency department of Chuadanga Sadar Hospital, said Jahin sustained multiple deep cut injuries from sharp weapons. His left wrist was completely severed, while both feet were extensively slashed from the soles to the heels. He was shifted to Dhaka in a critical condition after receiving primary treatment. Officer-in-Charge of Chuadanga Sadar Police Station Mizanur Rahman said the attack was believed to have stemmed from previous enmity. Police have identified two suspected attackers and launched a drive to arrest them, he said, adding that an investigation is underway to determine the exact motive behind the attack and identify any other people involved.

The Bangladesh Navy has extended humanitarian assistance to flood-affected and waterlogged residents in Chattogram, where incessant rainfall, upstream hill runoff and unusually high tides have disrupted normal life. Heavy rain, flash floods from upstream and tidal surges have caused severe flooding and waterlogging in different parts of the country, with thousands of people in low-lying areas of Chattogram remaining stranded. On Saturday, Bangladesh Navy personnel visited several flood-hit areas under Patenga Police Station, including Bijoy Nagar, Akmal Ali Road, New Mooring Madrasa, Narikel Tala and the Navy Hospital Gate area, to assess the overall situation.

At least five people were killed and several others injured after a bus crashed into a broken-down pick-up van on the Dhaka-Khulna highway in Bhanga upazila of Faridpur on Saturday night. The identities of the deceased could not be confirmed immediately, said Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Bhanga Highway Police Station Helal Uddin. The accident occurred around 8pm in the Swadi area when a Khulna-bound Narail Express bus from Dhaka rammed the stationary pick-up van, leaving five people dead on the spot, the OC said. Following the accident, angry locals seized the bus and set it on fire. On information, members of the Highway Police and Fire Service, along with local residents, rushed to the spot, rescued the injured and took them to Bhanga Upazila Health Complex. "Initially, we have confirmed the deaths of five people. We are investigating the exact cause of the accident," said the OC. The accident disrupted traffic on the highway for some time. Police later worked to restore traffic movement.

Road communication between Rangamati and Bandarban has been suspended after a bridge collapsed under the impact of strong currents caused by heavy rainfall and flash floods from upstream, officials and locals said on Saturday. Days of torrential rain and hill runoff first breached the embankment of a rubber dam in the Dudhpukuria area of Sukhbilash under Padua union in Rangunia upazila of Chattogram, inundating vast surrounding areas and causing widespread suffering. Bandarban tourist spots closed until July 15 On Friday night the heavy flow of water severely damaged the important Bridgeghat Bridge on the Rangamati-Bandarban road before it eventually collapsed, bringing all vehicular movement on the route to a halt from Saturday morning. Liton Das, general secretary of the Bangalhalia CNG Association, and local CNG drivers Nunu Badsha and Manik said water levels in nearby streams and rivers had risen abnormally due to continuous rainfall over the past few days. They said the collapse of the rubber dam embankment at Dudhpukuria unleashed a powerful current that washed away the Bridgeghat Bridge, cutting off road communication. Local residents Md Tushar and Md Tipu said similar situations occur almost every monsoon because of hill runoff, but the absence of permanent protective measures continues to cause severe hardship. They urged the authorities to reconstruct the damaged embankment and either repair or rebuild the collapsed bridge as soon as possible. Sakhawat Hossain, executive engineer of the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) in Bandarban, confirmed that the bridge collapsed after the rubber dam embankment gave way under the pressure of floodwaters. He said an RHD team with necessary equipment is ready to restore communication, but they have been unable to reach the site as sections of the road in the Balaghata and Swarnamandir areas remain submerged.