A young man died after being buried by a mudslide while attempting to cut an embankment to drain water from submerged paddy fields in Sunamganj’s Madhyanagar upazila on Sunday afternoon.

The incident occurred around midday at Shoulduar embankment under sub-project no- 8 of the Gurmar Haor in the upazila.

The victim, Arman Mia, 20, was son of Chanpar Mia of Shaliayani village.

Locals and police said several days of heavy rainfall had caused waterlogging in different haors of the district, including the Rupeshwar Haor in Madhyanagar, where large stretches of farmland were inundated and paddy crops were at risk of being submerged.

In an attempt to save the crops, farmers gathered to cut the embankment and release the water.

While cutting the embankment from below, a portion of the soil suddenly collapsed, burying Arman.

Locals spent about an hour trying to recover him and rushed him to the Dharmapasha Health Complex, where doctors declared him dead.

Madhyanagar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Sanjoy Ghosh confirmed the death, adding that the embankment was cut without administrative permission.