Cyclone Sitrang kills nine in Bangladesh 

A cyclone roared into the Bangladesh coast on Tuesday, killing at least nine people, destroying houses, uprooting trees, and disrupting road, power, and communication links, officials said, Report informs, citing Reuters.

Mass evacuations before Cyclone Sitrang made landfall on the west coast helped save lives, but the full extent of the casualties and damage would only be known after communications were fully restored, they said.

The cyclone barrelled in from the Bay of Bengal with winds gusting up to 88 kph (55 mph) and a storm surge of about 3 m (10 ft) that flooded low-lying coastal areas.

Power and telephone links have been largely cut, and coastal areas plunged into darkness, officials said.