Five members belonging to two families, including a four-year-old child, lost their lives early Thursday when heavy rainfall triggered catastrophic landslides that buried their homes in the remote Mission Para area of Aziznagar Union under Lama upazila.
The victims, who were asleep when chunks of mud collapsed onto their residences around 4 am, were identified as Md. Yunus, 28, his wife Ranu Akter, 22, and their four-year-old son Md. Soleman, alongside Md. Jewel, 27 and his wife Kulsuma Akter, 23.
Aziznagar Union acting chairman Mobarak Hossain stated that police, fire service personnel, and local residents rushed to the scene to conduct rescue operations, but all five individuals had already succumbed to their injuries before they could be pulled from the debris.
Lama Police Station Officer-in-Charge Md. Kaiser Hamid confirmed that the bodies were subsequently recovered and handed over to the grieving families. In a separate landslide incident earlier at around 1:30 am, Rehana Begum, a reserved female member of the Aziznagar Union Parishad, sustained serious injuries when mud struck her home.
Persistent downpours combined with rushing water from upstream hills have simultaneously sparked severe flash floods across Lama municipality and multiple unions.
According to local administration, over 200 houses have been completely destroyed by landslides, vital roads have suffered major structural damage, and regional communication networks remain severely compromised.
Floodwaters overflowed sections of the Lama-Alikadam road at Kearajhiri, Repara Residential and Linejhiri, halting all traffic, while collapsed earth severed secondary internal routes and left numerous settlements cut off.
Agricultural sectors have also taken a heavy hit, with seasonal seedbeds and croplands submerged across various unions to the immense detriment of local farmers.
Public representatives noted that low-lying tracts across all seven unions and the municipality have gone underwater, inundating residential houses, marketplaces, public and private offices, and educational facilities as the Matamuhuri River and hill streams—including Lama Khal, Bamu Khal, Yangcha Khal, Bagaichhari Khal, and Popa Khal—surged to abnormal heights, leaving nearly 12,000 residents marooned inside their homes. By Thursday afternoon, the water level of the Matamuhuri River pushed past the danger mark.
Fasiakhali Union Parishad Chairman Omar Faruk reported that roughly 50 houses in his union sustained damage from landslides while Lama Sadar Union Acting Chairman Shahidul Islam noted an additional 50 houses destroyed by landslides, 100 homes flooded and roughly 1,000 families stranded.
Lama Municipality Administrator and Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md. Moin Uddin stated that authorities had proactively issued warnings and visited vulnerable hillside areas since the heavy rains began, urging residents to relocate to safety. "Despite our repeated warnings, five people, including a child, lost their lives in Mission Para.
Around 1,000 houses and business establishments have also been inundated," he remarked. Moin Uddin added that local authorities are actively distributing food supplies and safe drinking water to affected communities and those sheltering in safety zones.
In response to the crisis, 55 educational institutions have been converted into temporary emergency shelters accommodating hundreds of displaced families, while the administration, union bodies and NGOs coordinate relief efforts.
Officials cautioned that intermittent communication lines, crippled mobile network services and broken road links continue to impede comprehensive damage assessments, warning that further rain will sustain high risks of subsequent landslides and flooding throughout Lama and adjacent areas.
