United News of Bangladesh

A 32-year-old man was crushed and another was injured under the wheels of a train in the Bariarhat area of Mirsarai district on Saturday. The identities of the victims could not be known immediately. The accident occurred around 12:15 pm on Saturday at the rail crossing area of Bariarhat fish market, said Md Khorshed, sub-inspector of Chittagong Railway Police. Read: Man crushed under train in Dhaka A Chittagong-bound Sonar Bangla and Dhaka-bound Karnafuli Express were passing together at noon. At that time a young man and a teenager fell on the rail tracks from the Karnafuli Express train, added the SI. “One of them died on the spot.” The injured teenager was sent to Mirsarai Upazila Health Complex. Arrangements have been made by CID to reveal the identity of the youth through DNA tests, said Mohammad Nazim Uddin, officer-in-charge of Railway Police Station.

Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD) Minister Md Tajul Islam has directed the local authorities in Sylhet for cutting up roads if necessary to make way for floodwater to subside. He has also directed the Sylhet City Corporation (SCC) to supply electricity to MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital through generators as floodwater has snapped electricity supply to the hospital. Tajul provided these directives during a press briefing on the flood situation in Sylhet at his Minto Road residence in Dhaka today afternoon. According to the Minister, the Local Government Engineering Division (LGED) and the Sylhet City Corporation have been directed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to cut up any roads immediately due to which floodwater can’t retreat at this moment. “Officials of LGED and SCC are monitoring the flood situation in Sylhet closely. Separate control rooms have been opened at the Local Government Division and the Public Health Engineering Directorate under this Division in this regard,” said Tajul. Admitting that the flood situation in Sylhet-Sunamganj region has reached dangerous levels, Tajul also said that his ministry’s primary concern at this moment is to bring the flood-affected people from their homes to safe shelters and provide dried food, safe drinking water and water-purifying tablets to these people. Read: Sylhet: A city tries to cope with its worst flood in living memory “Public representatives, government officials, Army and Navy officials and volunteers are trying their best to help the flood-affected people. The government is also working to lessen the plight of these people through coordinating the works of the LGED Ministry, the Health Ministry, the Disaster Management and Relief Ministry and the Shipping Ministry,” added Tajul. Replying to a question, the Minister said that the government has been able to take prompt steps due to its advance preparedness. “The government will allocate necessary resources for any damages of the communication systems in Sylhet region due to the flood,” Tajul mentioned.   The Minister also praised the journalists, saying that it is due to the media personnel that the government gets to know about any emergency situations in due time.

A 22-year-old housewife was beaten to death allegedly by her husband over a family feud in Phulbari upazila of Kurigram on Friday night.The deceased was identified as Afroza, wife of Delwar Hossain in East Fulmoti village of the upazila.Family sources said Delwar used to beat Afroza over various issues since their marriage. A few days ago, Afroza came to know that Delwar had an affair with his ex-wife.On Friday night, they had a quarrel following the matter. At one stage, Delwar beat her up severely, leaving her dead.Read: Woman killed by ‘husband’ in Sunamganj: Husband held Later, police rushed to the spot after being informed and arrested Delwar, said Fazlur Rahman, officer-in-Charge (OC) of Fulbari Police Station.The body has been sent to a hospital morgue for an autopsy, added the OC.

At least five people including 3 policemen were injured as a prison van carrying them was hit by a bus in Kadompur area in Keraniganj on Saturday morning.   The injured were identified as Sub-inspectors Borhan, Mojibur and Aminul. The bus driver and its helper were also injured, but they fled the spot.   According to the police, a prison van of Dhaka District Police left the District Police Lines Mill Barracks in the morning to take the accused from Keraniganj Central Jail to Gazipur Kashimpur Jail.   The accident occurred around 9.15 am when a bus of Padma Travels hit the prison van while changing its lane to enter the Dhaka-Mawa highway on the west side of the main gate of Rajendrapur Central Jail of South Keraniganj Police Station, leaving them injured.   Read: Truck-microbus collision leaves 2 dead in Natore   The injured policemen were sent to Rajarbag Central Police Hospital for treatment," said Baharul, sub-inspector of Hasara Camp of Dhaka Mawa Highway Police.   Mohammad Shahjahan, officer-in-charge of South Keraniganj Police Station, said there had been several accidents in the area before due to an illegal u-turn. “We have requested the authorities to stop the illegal u-turn immediately.”   “Efforts are on to nab the driver of the bus,”, added the OC.

Fire burnt three trucks in India’s Petrapole, opposite the Benapole port, on Saturday morning. The trucks were waiting to enter Bangladesh through Benapole, officials said. No casualties were reported. Kartik Chakraborty, general secretary of the Petrapole Port Staff Association in India, said fire originated from a truck loaded with bleaching powder on Saturday early hours. Read: Fire guts 4 thatched houses in Dhaka There was no driver in the truck and fire gutted two more trucks loaded with cotton, near it. After reporting to the fire service, they managed to put out the fire after a two-hour effort, he said. Rain causes bleaching powder to burn, so he suggested that the powder should be carried in covered trucks rather than open ones to avoid fire incidents. Mamun Kabir Tarafdar, Deputy Director of Benapole Port, said three cargo trucks, waiting to import goods to Bangladesh, burnt down in Petrapole.   However, the trucks were removed immediately and the vehicles are crossing at normal pace.

Sylhet and Sunamganj, the two frontier districts, had not faced such a terrible flood in the last 122 years, said State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Dr Md Enamur Rahman. “Already 64 upazilas of 10 districts have been hit by flood,” said the minister during a press briefing on the overall flood situation in the country. The state minister said, “Flood situation will worsen further in Sylhet and Sunamganj but the water level will lower from Tuesday or Wednesday. Meanwhile the country’s central zone will get flooded.” Read: Flood: Sylhet city dwellers hit hardest “The prime minister and all government agencies are working jointly to overcome the disaster. We have enough relief and rescue operation resources,” he said. Army, Navy and Coastguards are conducting rescue operations and it will continue, he added.

The authorities have opened 19 shelter centres in Chattogram on Saturday after four people were killed in landslides amid heavy monsoon rains . The shelter centers have been opened at Agrabad, Baklia, Kattali, and Chandgao circle of the port city so that residents of the city's foothills, where the risk of landslides is higher, can move from the risky zones and take refuge, said Plaban Kumar Biswash, Staff Officer of Chattogram District Administrative. Until 7 pm, 32 families had already taken shelter in these centers, he said. According to the district administration, city’s Khulshi, Pahartali, Jhil-1,2,3 area in Akbar Shah, AK Khan Road , Bishwa Colony, Firoz Shah, Forest Research Institute area, Motijhorna, Batali Hill, Zianagar, Roufabad, Shantinagar, Tankir Pahar, Mujibnagar, Amin Jute Mills area, Madhya Nagar, Bayezid-Fouzderhat CDA link road area are in threat of landslides. Read: 4 of family killed in Sylhet landslide Plaban Kumar said the administration is alerting on  mic from Friday to move from the risky areas. “Our volunteers are available to bring anyone to sheltering centers from the risky points,” he added. Earlier in the day, landslides at Barishal Ghona are under Akbar Shah police station, and at Bijainagar area at Foy's Lake left four people killed and injured several.

A worker was killed and two others sustained severe injuries as an old wall of a house collapsed on them in the Zirabo area of Ashulia’s Yarpur Union on Saturday. The identities of the deceased and injured are yet to be known. Witnesses said the wall fell on them when they were walking beside it during the rain on Saturday afternoon, leaving them severely injured. Read: Schoolboy killed in wall collapse in city The injured were rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors declared Rakib dead on arrival. Later, the owner of the house sent the body to the village without informing the police. Legal action will be taken after investigating the matter, said Kamruzzaman, officer-in-charge of Ashulia Police Station.

Residents of Sylhet city have been suffering since Thursday as all major areas of the city, including houses, shops, and hospitals, went under water.  The low-lying areas of the city were submerged first. People were seen wading through the knee-to-waist deep water. People in the city were seen making concrete walls with bricks and cement at the entrances of their houses as makeshift dams to protect them from flood water Saturday. Read: Flood situation turns grim: Power supply to Sylhet, Sunamganj suspended Water also entered Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital, causing immense suffering to the patients.   Local administrations opened several shelters, but they quickly became overcrowded. The inmates of the shelter homes now desperately need food, pure drinking water, and fodder.  The flood situation in Sylhet started turning into a terrible disaster Thursday afternoon as almost all the upazilas and municipal areas went under water. Electricity was cut off in the district on Saturday, although later it was restored partially in the city.

The suffering continues for millions of Bangladeshis as the overall flood situation worsened again on Saturday, with six north-eastern districts - Sylhet, Sunamganj, Netrokona, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, and Sherpur -continuing to be the worst sufferers. The situation is particularly dire in the two frontier districts of Sylhet and Sunamganj, where residents have described the 'worst flooding in living memory'. Even experts were at a loss to foresee the sheer pace at which the two districts have been inundated since Thursday, in close concert with record rainfall witnessed just across the border in Mawsynram and Cherrapunji, in India's hilly Meghalaya state, which are known as the wettest places in the world. On Friday, the Sohra region of Meghalaya's Cherrapunji recorded its third highest rainfall ever in a 24-hour period, with 972.0 mm of rain. It added up to some 2500 mm since Wednesday, its highest 3-day count of rainfall in 27 years. Also read: Army launches flood helpline for Sylhet, Sunamganj Mawsynram recorded 1003.6 mm on Friday, its highest ever for a 24-hour period in June. With the waters inevitably destined to make their way down fiercely over the hilly terrain and rivers running downstream into Bangladesh, flooding in Sunamganj and Sylhet was bound to worsen on Saturday, and that is exactly what happened.