United News of Bangladesh

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.

Two businessmen, one driving a bike and the other riding it, died on Satkhira-Khulna Highway when their vehicle collided with an ambulance Friday night. The deceased were identified as Shah Bazlul Rahman, 58, and Abdus Salam, 40, from Satkhira city, said Biswajit Adhikari, officer-in-charge of Satkhira Sadar Police Station. The crash left another pillion rider, Khokon, critically injured. Read: RSF releases monthly accident statistics The accident occurred around 9:30pm near the Binerpota area as the road became slippery from rain. Bazlur and Salam died on the spot. Khokon is now undergoing treatment at Satkhira Sadar Hospital and is not out of danger, Biswajit said. "Bodies of Bazlur and Salam were handed over to their families after postmortem examinations. We are trying to detain the ambulance driver," he added.  

Dhaka, June 18 (UNB) – Bangladesh Army has launched a toll-free helpline for the flood-hit people of Sunamganj and Sylhet, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Directorate. The helpline numbers are 01769177266, 01769177267, 01769177268, 01852788000, 01852798800, 01852804477, 01987781144, 01993781144, 01995781144, 01513918096, 01513918097, 01513918098. Read: Rail communication with Sylhet snapped amid flood Friday, the government deployed army personnel in Sylhet and Sunamganj to speed up flood rescue and relief operations, ISPR said.  

Rail communication beween Sylhet and other parts of the country was completely snapped Saturday afternoon amid worsening flood situation.. Sylhet railway authorities made the announcement of suspending train services around 1:30 pm. “As floodwater entered the railway station rail communication has been suspended,” said Nurul Islam, manager of Sylhet Railway Station. Also read: School, colleges to be used as flood shelters: DSHE However keeping trains operational till Maijgaon station in Fenchuganj upazila is under discussion but no decisions have been made yet, he said. On Friday., all kind of flight operations at Sylhet MAG Osmani International Airport was suspended for three days due to flood situation. Also read: Netrakona’s rail link with other parts of country snapped due to flood Flood situation in Sylhet started turning into a terrible disaster from Thursday afternoon as almost all the upazilas and municipal area went under water.