At least 46 people have been killed in landslides and flooding after heavy monsoon rains in southeast Bangladesh, police and medical officers said. Many of the victims were from tribal communities in the remote hill district of Rangamati, close to the Indian border, where 24 people were killed when mudslides buried their homes.

Another 16 of the casualties were in the neighbouring district of Chittagong. The latest disaster came weeks after Cyclone Mora smashed into Bangladesh's southeast, killing at least eight people and damaging tens of thousands of homes.

Monsoon rains in Bangladesh's southern hill districts frequently trigger deadly landslides. Heavy monsoon rains also pounded the capital Dhaka and the port city of Chittagong in the district of the same name, which experienced 222mm of rain, disrupting traffic for hours.

Among the victims were four soldiers who had been sent to clear roads in Rangamati district after an earlier landslide. Thousands of troops are stationed in Rangamati, where a tribal insurgency raged for two decades, and which still suffers sporadic violence.

Bangladesh experienced heavy monsoon rains throughout Monday because of the influence of a depression formed in the Bay of Bengal. The Dhaka Met office said Tuesday morning it had recorded 343mm of rainfall in Rangamati over the course of 24 hours.

Courtesy:Al Jazeera