Powerful landslides triggered by heavy rains killed at least 24 people and left seven army soldiers missing in southeastern Bangladesh. The mudslides struck early Tuesday in two areas in the southern coastal area of Cox's Bazar - 185 miles (296 kilometers) south of the capital Dhaka - and many victims were buried alive as the slept, said Giasuddin Ahmed, chief government administrator in the area. Ahmed said 19 bodies were initially recovered from one landslide. Another mudslide in a nearby district killed four members of a family, said the area's police official Zahirul Hoque by phone. He said huge chunks of mud buried the victims' home. At least seven soldiers were also missing at a makeshift camp at Ramu area of the district, Ahmed said. "We are trying to confirm what has happened there," he told The Associated Press by phone as he headed to the scene. And a 32-year-old woman died in Cox's Bazar town after her thatched home was hit by a rush of mud. Rescue operations were continuing but rains hampered efforts with many main roads inundated. A depression in the Bay of Bengal caused incessant downpours in the hilly and forested region, causing the landslides.
