Bangladesh landslide toll reaches 128, may rise

CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh, June 15 (Reuters) Rescuers dug out one more body today to take the confirmed death toll to 128 following a series of landslides in Bangladesh's port city Chittagong, officials said.

The rain-triggered mudslides buried dozens of hillside shanty homes last Monday.

Troops, police and firefighters were still searching for more victims on Friday but heavy showers that resumed yesterday night -- after a day's lull -- hampered their efforts.

''We will probably call off the search at the end of today,'' one rescuer said. ''We hope no more victims are left out there.'' But conditions of some of the around 100 injured were still critical and a few of them might die, health officials said.

The early monsoon rains also flooded Chittagong, a city of nearly 5 million people, but most of the water has receded over the last two days.

''People are still in shock over the huge loss of lives...

and now fear more devastation in the wake of the fresh spell of rains,'' one city official said.

Medium to heavy rains also struck the rest of Bangladesh on Friday, and weather officials warned part of the country could suffer more flash floods over the next week.

The earlier flooding and lightning killed more than 30 people across the country, disaster management officials said.

Some major rivers in the country's north and southeastern hill basins were flowing above their danger levels and could spill over their banks in the case of more rain, flood monitoring officials said.

REUTERS SLD KP1620