DHAKA, Bangladesh, Nov. 16 More than 1,000 people were feared dead and thousands missing in Bangladesh after a monster cyclone battered the country.
Cyclone Sidr flattened houses, disrupted power and telephone service and destroyed crops and fish farms as it barreled into the country's southwestern coast, the Times of India reported Friday.
Government officials placed the death toll at greater than 260, but unofficial reports said the number could be more than 1,000, the newspaper said. Other sources placed the number dead at about 500.
Disaster Management Secretary Ayub Mian said, "There are remote areas and offshore islands where rescuers could not reach yet.
At least 500 trawlers with more than 3,000 fishermen have been missing since since Cyclone Sidr made landfall at the Khulna-Barisal coast Thursday.
Government officials said the powerful storm was as devastating as cyclones that struck the country in 1970 and 1991.
In Washington, the State Department said the U.S. Mission to Bangladesh was pre-positioned to provide 16 zodiac boats for emergency operations, six water treatment systems and 10 water ambulances.
Copyright 2007 by UPI
