Landslide kills 2 workers

Two day labourers were killed and another was injured in a landslide while they were digging at the base of a hill in Nabiganj upazila of Habiganj yesterday.

The deceased were identified as Shamsul Haque, 35, of Nishakuri village, and Mashuk Mia, 40, of Khayestha village in the upazila.

Critically injured Zahed Mia is undergoing treatment at Habiganj Sadar Hospital.

Quoting locals, Officer-in-Charge Abdul Baten of Nabiganj Police Station said Shamsul and Mashuk died on the spot as a large chunk of earth collapsed on them when a group of 20/22 workers were cutting a hill around 7:00am.

Police recovered the bodies and sent those to Habiganj Sadar Hospital morgue for autopsy, the OC added.

Meanwhile, about 250 families of Nishakuri, Khayestha and Shangkarsena villages in the upazila, are passing their days anxiously and guarding their hillside homes, fearing that a landslide may occur anytime.

Tofazzal Sohel, general secretary of Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA), Habiganj unit, said indiscriminate hill cutting can unleash landslide any time.

Nabiganj upazila chairman Alamgir Chowdhury said about 250 families, living on and around the hills in the three villages, are exposed to landslides that may lead to fatalities anytime.