Landslides, floods kill nearly 100 in Bangladesh

DHAKA, June 11 (Reuters) Floods and mudslides have killed nearly 100 people in Bangladesh, mostly in the port city of Chittagong where dozens of hillside homes were buried after monsoon rains, officials and rescuers said today.

At least 84 people died in the city, including entire families, where hillside homes were swept away and many other houses collapsed in the worst such disaster in decades.

Much of the city of nearly 5 million people, Bangladesh's commercial capital, was flooded by waist to chest-high water, closing down businesses, offices and transport, city officials and witnesses said.

Rescuers including troops, firefighters, police and volunteers searched for people reported missing, but their efforts were hampered by flooded roads and no electricIty after nightfall.

''It looks like we are living in a ghost city,'' one rescuer said. ''Never before in my life I confronted such a calamity,'' said another.

The dead included five members of one family.

City officials said they were trying to supply dry or cooked food to stranded families, especially children.

President Iajuddin Ahmed and the head of the country's army-backed interim government, Fakruddin Ahmed, expressed deep shock at the loss of life and asked the district administration to do everything possible to ease victims' suffering.

''We are facing a hell of a situation here,'' one rescuer said by telephone. ''It's still heavily raining and visibility has sharply declined. Roads are all under water,'' one rescuer said.

Weather officials said nearly 275 mm of rain fell in Chittagong and neighbouring districts today.

''The disaster caught us unawares, it struck suddenly,'' said Mokhlesur Rahman, Chittagong Divisional Commissioner.

FLASH FLOODS Thunderstorms killed 15 people elsewhere in the country, including five in western Jhenaidah district alone, local officials told reporters.

Weather officials said heavy rains at the onset of the annual monsoon season have paralysed much of Bangladesh since Sunday, and raised fears of flash floods in low-lying areas.

The weather office said the monsoon, which officially began on Friday and will last until mid-September, was unusually active under the influence of a sea storm in the Bay of Bengal.

''Moderate to very heavy rain ... is likely to batter the country for five more days,'' a weather department bulletin said.

''The rain might trigger flash floods in the northern and eastern regions of the country.'' Large areas along the Bangladesh coast have been submerged under 3-4 feet of water due to a moderate tidal surge triggered by the storm, officials said.

Some railway tracks between Chittagong and the capital Dhaka were also under water, although trains were still running with caution. Flights between Dhaka and Chittagong were suspended, aviation officials said.

Work at the country's main Chittagong port was partially disrupted, port officials said.

REUTERS DS BST2358