Cyclone Fani: More than 1,000 Bangladesh homes destroyed

Cyclone Fani has caused extensive damage in Bangladesh, despite weakening as it blew north from India.

 

More than 1,000 homes have been destroyed and entire villages submerged in the South Asian country.

 

At least five people died and 63 were injured.

 

With more than a million people evacuated to safety, the director of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department said "fear of a major disaster is mostly over".

 

The cyclone was downgraded to a depression as it swept north-eastwards from India into Bangladesh on Saturday, but was still powerful enough to submerge dozens of villages on the low lying coast.

 

Gusts of up to 70km/h (43mph) were registered.

 

Houses were also destroyed in the Noakhali district, where 30 people were injured and two children killed, one aged 12 and another two years old.

 

India also moved more than a million people to safety to avoid Cyclone Fani.

 

A least 16 people were killed by the storm when it hit India on Friday, but officials said the loss of life could have been far worse.

 

(Sources: BBC News)