Cyclone Aila batters parts of Bangladesh and India
- 00:02:34
- ITN
Cyclone Aila batters parts of Bangladesh and India
Cyclone Aila has killed at least 118 people in Bangladesh and India, according to reports. Millions of others have been marooned by floodwaters or are living in temporary shelters after being made homeless. The death toll in Bangladesh rose to at least 89 following the recovery of more bodies, while Indian officials said at least 29 people had died in West Bengal state. Bangladesh officials said at least 100 people are still missing and aid workers have said they fear several hundred people may have been killed. Cyclone Aila slammed into parts of coastal Bangladesh and eastern India on Monday, with 60mph winds triggering tidal surges and flooding that forced half a million people from their homes. Heavy rain triggered by the storm also raised river levels and burst mud embankments in the Sundarbans delta in neighbouring West Bengal. The affected area is home to hundreds of thousands of people as well as the world's biggest tiger reserve. In Bangladesh, the worst affected area was the Satkhira district, near the port of Mongla, where a local official said 17 bodies were found in one village. "The situation here is alarming, and the confirmed death toll so far in the district is 23. But it may go up," local official Mohammad Abdus Samad said. Bangladeshi army, navy and coast guards are helping civil officials and volunteers to search for the missing and pick up people marooned in hundreds of villages, caught in chest or shoulder-high waters, witnesses said. In West Bengal, the Indian army and government aid workers on Tuesday began an operation to provide relief to more than 400,000 people marooned in the Sundarbans delta region. Aila swept many areas still recovering from Cyclone Sidr in November 2007, which killed 3,500 people in Bangladesh and made at least a million homeless.
ITN | May 26, 2009
