At least 50 people have died in Bangladesh over the past week due to heavy monsoon rains that caused widespread flooding and landslides. Tens of thousands of residents were forced to leave their homes, AFP reports.

The hardest-hit area was the Chattogram region in the southeast of the country, where 50 people died over the course of the week, including 29 who were killed by landslides. Two more residents are listed as missing.

About 35,000 people were placed in temporary shelters. The authorities opened about 4,000 accommodation centers for evacuees, but many areas still face shortages of food and drinking water.

The military and border guards are delivering humanitarian aid by boat to settlements cut off from the outside world due to flooding.

One of the tragedies was the story of Mohammed Forkan’s family, as he died during the natural disaster. Because the local cemetery was flooded, his relatives were unable to fulfill his final wish — to bury him next to his parents. The body had to be transported on a bamboo raft while they searched for a dry burial site.

Another 15 people died last week as a result of landslides in Rohingya refugee camps in the Cox’s Bazar area. More than 1.2 million refugees live there in dense settlements on hillsides, where the soil becomes especially unstable during the monsoon after deforestation.

Bangladesh regularly faces devastating floods during the monsoon season. Scientists note that climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events.

According to the country’s Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre, the situation in the southeastern areas may improve soon, but active monsoon conditions continue to pose a risk of new flooding in the northern and northeastern regions.