At least 33 dead and a million evacuated by a cyclone in Bangladesh

At least 33 people have died 15 of them children, and hundreds of homes have been destroyed by the cyclone 'Mahasen' , which has touched down in Bangladesh and forced the evacuation of nearly a million people, as reported by one official source. The cyclone has caused deaths and destruction in the south and southeast of the country, but has begun to weaken as it moves along the coast of Chittagong district, whose capital of the same name is the second most populous city in China. "The cyclone moves down the coast of Chittagong district and is weakening," said Abdul Hassan, Bangladeshi government spokesman."worst is over", stressed the official. On the coast of Teknaf (Cox's Bazar district), police have recovered the bodies of 22 people, including 15 children , who drowned when the boat they were traveling on sank due to the cyclone. Inspector Didar Ferdous said the newspaper 'The Daily Star' to the boat capsized Wednesday night in the Bay of Bengal with unknown number of passengers of the Rohingya Muslim minority on board, and was heading to Malaysia. Between 6 and 12 am, the cyclone has generated winds of 50 kilometers per hour , but after intensity has dropped, said the director of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, Shah Alam. Sha said that in the coming hours will reach Burma cyclone and first thing in the night leave Bangladesh. Local authorities yesterday began the evacuation of nearly a million people in coastal areas of the country, as well as the closure of two airports and declared a state of alarm 7, on a scale of 1 to 11. The UN has warned that the cyclone would affect eight million peoplein Bangladesh and India-Burma border. Government spokesman, Rizwam Khan, said that the danger has passed and both the airport and the port city of Chittagong have resumed their activities .

Over 150,000 evacuated in Burma

The Burmese authorities have been ordered to evacuate some 160,000 people before the arrival of the western region of the cyclone 'Mahasen'. "The army will move to higher places", announced the Minister of the Presidency, Aung Min, at a press conference in Rangoon, according to local radio. Aung Min has said they expect some residents refuse to leave their homes, hence it has advanced to apply the law of protection of natural disasters to force their transfer. "We do not want to see them die" , explained the minister. On Monday, three ships were wrecked in the Bay of Bengal and still missing 58 refugees of hundreds who moved to safer places Burmese Rakhine state, bordering Bangladesh, before the arrival of 'Mahasen'. The worst cyclone that hit Burma in recent history was Nargis, who crossed to the south of the country in early May 2008 and left 138,000 people dead and millions homeless.