Cyclone lashes Bangladesh killing 15

A cyclone roared into the Bangladesh coast on Tuesday, killing at least 15 people, destroying houses, uprooting trees and disrupting road, power and communication links, officials said. Mass evacuations before Cyclone Sitrang made landfall on the west coast helped save lives, but the full extent of the casualties and damage would only be known after communications were fully restored, they said.

'It was terrible. It looked like the sea was coming to grab us,' Mizanur Rahman, a resident of Bhola district, said after communications were restored in his neighbourhood. 'We spent a sleepless night, all we could do was pray.' - Reuters