Cyclone toll rises in India, Bangladesh

Agence France-Presse

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Cyclone Aila slammed into the coast of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal on Monday, leaving hundreds of thousands of people homeless after a tidal surge washed away villages, roads and livestock.

Military and civil relief workers struggled to deliver food, fresh water and shelters to regions worst affected by the surge of seawater and destructive high winds, authorities in Dhaka said. At least 113 people were killed and more than 6,000 injured in Bangladesh, and 70 more died in India, officials told AFP. Bangladesh's Disaster Management Minister said conditions on the ground were desperate but that a major relief and rescue operation was in full swing.

"We have adequate resources to ensure food, relief and rehabilitation, and we'll work for as long as it takes to reach those affected," Razzak said.

In India's West Bengal, the cyclone hit the state capital Kolkata, bringing down trees and electricity pylons and smashing cars. About 20 of those killed died a day after the storm in mudslides caused by rainfall in the hill resort of Darjeeling, the state's chief secretary Asoke Mohon Chakraborty said.