19 killed as cyclone Roanu hits coast

Nineteen people have been killed as landslides and storms, triggered by the cyclonic storm ‘Roanu’, hit the country’s coastal districts on Saturday.

Nine people died in Chittagong, three people in Noakhali, two in Bhola, three in Cox’s Bazar and one in Patuakhali and Laxmipur districts respectively.

The cyclone damaged hundreds of mud-and-tin houses in two impoverished southern districts, with many low-lying villages inundated by a storm surge that swelled up to seven feet (two metres) high.

More than 500,000 people into shelters as the cyclone made landfall just after midday, packing winds as strong as 88 kilometres (54 miles) per hour.