'Thirty dead' in Calcutta cyclone

BBC News, Tuesday, 26 May 2009 10:28 UK

More than 30 people died when a cyclone lashed the Indian city of Calcutta and nearby areas, officials say.

Cyclonic storm Aila has now weakened and headed north. Many people are still reported to be missing.

The cyclone made landfall in south-western Bangladesh on Monday afternoon. Coastal areas were flooded and uprooted trees caused chaos in Calcutta.

Hundreds of thousands of people in Bangladesh and India were evacuated to temporary shelters.

West Bengal state's disaster management minister, Mortaza Hossain, told the BBC that more than 100,000 people had become homeless.

"We have rescued more than 100,000 people and sent them to safer places. We are now arranging dry food packets and drinking water pouches for them."

Fierce winds, measuring 100km/h (65mph), ravaged parts of Calcutta and adjoining districts. "We were in the eye of the storm," Mr Hossain said.

The army and border guards were called out to rescue people and help provide relief in eight districts of the state hit by the cyclone, he said.

Rescue and relief

Twelve people died in the South 24 Parganas district that straddles the Sundarbans delta south of Calcutta.

Some 100,000 people have been evacuated to safer places

Most deaths occurred when the cyclone flattened mud houses.

Six people died in Calcutta when huge trees uprooted by the cyclone fell on buses, cars and auto-rickshaws.

The rest of the casualties were reported from the districts of Howrah, Hooghly, Nadia, Bankura, North 24 Parganas and East Midnapore.

Calcutta police chief Gautam Moham Chakrabarty said teams from the municipal corporation were working to clear roads blocked by uprooted trees.

Calcutta metro and train services were suspended after water flooded tracks in many places.

Massive tidal waves ravaged scores of coastal villages and the seaside resorts of Digha, Mandarmoni and Kanthi throughout Monday.

In Bangladesh, flooding and tidal surges hit coastal areas, with strong winds forcing the closure of the main ports of Chittagong and Mongla.

About 400,000 people were moved from five districts to cyclone shelters and schools before the storm hit, Bangladeshi officials said.

A further 300,000 people were stranded in coastal villages, they said.

© MMIX

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