Death rains in Bangladesh
Hundreds of people died and tens of thousands were left homeless after a powerful cyclone smashed impoverished Bangladesh with huge waves, severe winds and torrential rains, officials said on Friday.
By Agencies |
DHAKA: Hundreds of people died and tens of thousands were left homeless after a powerful cyclone smashed impoverished Bangladesh with huge waves, severe winds and torrential rains, officials said on Friday.
Cyclone Sidr, described as the worst storm in years to hit the low-lying and disaster-prone Bangladesh, crashed into the south-western coast Thursday night before sweeping north over the capital Dhaka.
The ATN Bangla television network said 550 lives had been lost, while the private UNB news agency said at least 425 people had died. Government officials put the confirmed death toll at 243 and climbing. Wind speeds of 220-240 km an hour were recorded as the storm — visible from space as a huge swirling white mass that moved north from the Bay of Bengal — left a trail of devastation in poor rural areas.
Disaster management official Nahid Sultana said the official death toll of 243 toll would rise as reports were yet to come in from two districts known to have been worst hit — southern Barguna and Jhalokati — because of communication problems. “We are expecting many dead bodies will be found there,” he told reporters.
Most deaths were caused by trees crushing flimsy homes made from bamboo and tin. In Madaripur district between Dhaka and the south-west coast, an AFP reporter saw devastated villages, one after the other.
India, which was also bracing for disaster, escaped the worst. About 1,00,000 villagers in coastal areas of West Bengal were returning home on Friday despite heavy rain after being evacuated to temporary camps, he said. The state's finance minister, Asim Dasgupta, said one man was killed and over a thousand mud huts destroyed there.
The European Commission said it was releasing $2.2 million in emergency relief. “Preliminary indications are that the most pressing needs will be food, safe drinking water, emergency shelter, clothing, blankets and medicine,” commission spokesman told journalists in Brussels.
Cyclone Sidr, described as the worst storm in years to hit the low-lying and disaster-prone Bangladesh, crashed into the south-western coast Thursday night before sweeping north over the capital Dhaka.
The ATN Bangla television network said 550 lives had been lost, while the private UNB news agency said at least 425 people had died. Government officials put the confirmed death toll at 243 and climbing. Wind speeds of 220-240 km an hour were recorded as the storm — visible from space as a huge swirling white mass that moved north from the Bay of Bengal — left a trail of devastation in poor rural areas.
Disaster management official Nahid Sultana said the official death toll of 243 toll would rise as reports were yet to come in from two districts known to have been worst hit — southern Barguna and Jhalokati — because of communication problems. “We are expecting many dead bodies will be found there,” he told reporters.
Most deaths were caused by trees crushing flimsy homes made from bamboo and tin. In Madaripur district between Dhaka and the south-west coast, an AFP reporter saw devastated villages, one after the other.
India, which was also bracing for disaster, escaped the worst. About 1,00,000 villagers in coastal areas of West Bengal were returning home on Friday despite heavy rain after being evacuated to temporary camps, he said. The state's finance minister, Asim Dasgupta, said one man was killed and over a thousand mud huts destroyed there.
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The European Commission said it was releasing $2.2 million in emergency relief. “Preliminary indications are that the most pressing needs will be food, safe drinking water, emergency shelter, clothing, blankets and medicine,” commission spokesman told journalists in Brussels.
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