Nine dead as cyclone Amphan lashes Bangladesh

A total of nine people have been killed in seven districts of the country as super cyclone Amphan battered Bangladesh's south-western part in the early hours of today morning.

There are reports of two deaths from Jhenidahand Barishalfrom todaynoon, our local correspondents report.

The cyclone claimed seven more lives reported earlier today from five districts -- Jashore, Bhola, Barguna, Patuakhali and Pirojpur.

In Jhenidah, a woman named Nadira Begum died as a tree fell on her house at Halidhani village in Sadarupazila around 9:00pm, said the district's Deputy Commissioner Saroj Kumar Nath.

In Barishal, a boy drowned while taking a bath during the stormy weather around 3:00pm yesterday in the Gajariariver under Mehendiganjupazila, our Barishal correspondent reports.

Locals later recovered the body from the river around 9:00pm, six hours after the incident took place, said Officer-in-Charge of Mehendiganj Police Station MdAbdidur Rahman.

Besides, a woman and her daughter died atChaugachhain Jashore district while Amphanlashed the area last night.

The deceased were identified as Khento Begum (45) and her 13-year-old daughter RabeyaKhatun, residents of Chandpur village at Chaugachha, our Benapole correspondent reports.

A tree fell on them when they went out of their house around 11:30pm during the severe cyclonic storm, said Rifat Khan Rajib, officer-in-charge of Chaugachha Police Station.

Both of them died on the spot, the OC added.

In Patuakhali, Shah Alam (40), a leader of a team of Red Crescent volunteers, drowned as a boat capsized in a canal in Patuakhali'sKalaparaupazila yesterday morning.

In the same district, a five-year-old boy was killed as a tree branch fell on him while he was on his way to a cyclone centre in the evening yesterday.

The victim was identified as Rashed, son of Shah Alam from Galachipaupazila, police said.

In Bhola, 70-year-old Siddikur Rahman was killed in a similar way in Charfashion in the afternoon.

Apart from them, 50-year-old ShajahanMolla, a farmer from Pirojpur, was killed in a mudslide during the cyclone. Another elderly person died on the way to a cyclone shelter in Barguna early yesterday.