Sidr wreaks havoc in coastal region; at least 425 killed, thousands injured
UNB,
At least 425 people were killed and thousands injured in 12 districts as the powerful cyclone Sidr lashed the country's south and south-western regions last night.
The terrible tropical storm that packed speeds of up to 240 kilometres per hour, made landfall in the Barisal-Khulna belt last night, flattening tens of thousands of houses and uprooting numerous trees.
"The hurricane crossed the coast at 3:00am early today (Friday) and was now lying over the southern and central parts of
d depression this morning," a latest meteorological office bulletin said.
A total blackout gripped the country after Thursday midnight as all power stations tripped under the impact of the hurricane.
More than 100 people were killed and some 300 went missing in the worst-hit Bagerhat district. Besides, hundreds of people were wounded and thousands of houses flattened in the coastal district, police said.
Bagerhat's Swarankhola upazila alone reported 200 people missing.
The cyclone killed at least 57 people and injured hundreds in Barguna, state-run Bangladesh Television reported, adding that thousands of houses were damaged by the nightlong storm.
Further details were not available immediately, as communications with the district remained cut off. A report from
There were reports of 90 deaths in Patuakhali, 28 in Jhalakathi, 21 in Barisal, 18 in Madaripur, 21 in Gopalganj, 20 in Shariatpur, 12 in Khulna, 24 in Pirojpur, 13 in Bhola, four in Chandpur, three in Munshiganj, six in Faridpur, four in Satkhira, two in Narayanganj and one in Habiganj and Laxmipur each.
Official figures put the death toll at 233 in 19 districts, which exclude Barguna, Pirojpur and Jhalakathi.
Acting Secretary at food and disaster management ministry, Mohammad Ayub Miah, disclosed the casualty figures at a press briefing at PID conference room this afternoon.
Power supply suffered massive disruptions since yesterday evening as the hurricane started whipping the coastal areas, consequently tripping the local electricity grids of the districts, officials said.
Bangladesh Power Development Board chairman and other senior officials were monitoring efforts to restore power generation and supply system.
Low-lying areas of many coastal districts were inundated as storm surge whipped by raging winds washed the areas.
"It was the worst nightmare of its kind I have ever experienced," a Patuakhali police official quoted an elderly man as saying while narrating the nightlong horrors.
Thousands of people were injured in the south and south-western regions and most houses there were either fully or partially damaged in the cyclonic storm, one of the worst in the country.
In Bagerhat, road communications with all upazilas, including Swarankhola, Mongla and Morelganj, remained disrupted.
What happened to the residents in Dublar Char, including thousands of fishermen, could not be known as local administration failed to contact them. A coastguard team from Mongla set out for the offshore island in the morning.
One trawler, some passenger- and fishing-boats sank in the Mongla port channel, officials said.
A Sundarbans forest official told UNB that the cyclone wreaked havoc in the mangrove forests at the "first hit". "Our offices were damaged, boats capsized or washed away," he said.
Rescue and relief operations by district and police administrations, coastguard, army and Red Crescent started.
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