Death toll increases to 106 in Bangladesh floods

Searchers pulled out 15 bodies buried under mud, rocks and debris on Thursday, raising this week's death toll to 106 from landslides and floods caused by heavy monsoon rains in southern Bangladesh. Officials said the landslides occurred mainly in remote villages with poor roads, making rescue work more difficult. 41 people died in Cox's Bazar and 41 in neighboring Bandarban and another 24 in Chittagong, mostly in a series of landslides, the Disaster Management Ministry said. It said soldiers joined the search for the missing in all three areas and found 15 more bodies buried in debris Thursday. About 500 houses were washed away. Officials said more people may be missing, but they didn't know how many. Three days of torrential rain in the region of small hills and forests dislodged huge chunks of earth, which buried flimsy huts where families were sleeping late Tuesday and early Wednesday. Many of the dead were women and children, officials said. The government said relief workers were distributing rice and water to hundreds of displaced people.