24 killed as Cyclone Roanu hits Bangladesh, lakhs evacuated
Dhaka: At least 24 people have been killed and over 100 others injured as cyclone Roanu battered Bangladesh’s southern coast, triggering landslides and prompting authorities to evacuate about five lakh people.
With a wind speed of up to 88 kilometres per hour, the cyclone hit the Barisal-Chittagong region, sending impacts across the country.
Most places witnessed rain and thunder showers accompanied by temporary gusty and squally wind on Saturday morning.
“The death toll now stands at 24 with four more casualties reported overnight,” Bangladesh’s disaster management department’s director general Reaz Ahmed told PTI.
Around 11 people including minor children were killed in the northwestern port city of Chittagong, which appeared to have suffered the worst in the cyclone, Ahmed said.
The southwestern Bhola, northwestern Noakhali and Cox’s Bazar coastal districts witnessed three deaths while the storm damaged 85,000 homesteads and business structures along the coastlines, he said.