Heavy monsoon rains and landslides have killed at least 147 people in southeast Bangladesh and neighboring regions of northeast India, burying many in their homes as they slept, authorities said on Wednesday.

Three young children from the same family were among those killed in the disaster, which comes just weeks after a cyclone battered the region and destroyed camps housing thousands of Rohingya refugees.

Police warned the death toll would likely rise in both countries as emergency workers reached remote parts of the Chittagong Hills, where telephone and transport links had been cut.

Bangladeshi firefighters search for bodies after a landslide in Bandarban on June 13, 2017. /AFP Photo

Landslides are frequent in Bangladesh's hilly areas during the heavy monsoon season, which usually runs from June to September.

In June 2007, some 123 people were killed in a devastating landslide in the southeastern Chittagong district, some 242 km away from Dhaka.

(Source: Agencies)

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