Cyclone slams Bangladesh and West Bengal, 33 dead

By Nizam Ahmed

DHAKA/KOLKATA (Reuters) - A cyclone slammed into parts of Bangladesh and West Bengal on Monday, triggering tidal surges and flooding that forced some half a million people from their homes and killed almost three dozen people.

Storm officials in coastal Bangladesh moved about 500,000 people to temporary shelters after they left their homes to escape huge tidal waves churned by winds up to 100 kph.

Heavy rains triggered by the storm also raised river levels and burst mud embankments in the Sundarbans delta in neighbouring West Bengal in India. The affected area is home to hundreds of thousands of people as well as the world's biggest tiger reserve.

The cyclone killed at least 33 people, including 18 in West Bengal, officials from the two countries said. Most victims either drowned or were killed in house collapses or crushed under uprooted trees.

Indian Oil Corp suspended operations of its single-point mooring facility at Paradip port in eastern India, while authorities shut down operations at Bangladesh's main ports of Chittagong and Mongla.

The cyclone and tidal waves damaged roads and embankments and levelled standing crops over vast areas, officials said.

HIGH TIDE DUE