Powerful landslides triggered by heavy rain killed at least 24 people and left seven army soldiers missing in south-eastern Bangladesh today.

Villagers living in vulnerable areas of Bangladesh will soon get warnings of impending cyclones and floods on their mobile phones, a government spokesman said today.

Rebel soldiers in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka surrendered today after being confronted with government tanks.

A cyclone slammed into Bangladesh tonight, tearing down houses, toppling trees and power poles, and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee.

More than 600,000 coastal villagers took shelter inland today as a cyclone rapidly approached Bangladesh’s south-western shores, spawning cold drizzles, strong winds and high waves, a weather official said.

About 700,000 health workers were aiming to vaccinate some 25 million children up to age five today as part of Bangladesh’s continuing efforts to eliminate polio, the Health Ministry said.

The death toll in a spate of mudslides, flooding and lightning in south-eastern Bangladesh rose to 103 today after rescuers recovered more bodies.

AT least 800 people remained missing in southern India yesterday and hundreds of fishermen were unaccounted for in Bangladesh after a severe storm in the Bay of Bengal killed 50 people, officials said.

Six fishermen drowned and about 200 others were missing after a powerful storm sank at least 20 trawlers off Bangladesh’s southern coast, officials and survivors said today.

About 200 fishermen were feared dead today after 19 boats sank in a fierce tropical storm off Bangladesh’s southern coast.

Flooding caused by a week of monsoon rains left 20 people dead, forced tens of thousands of villagers from their homes and damaged crops and roads across Bangladesh, relief officials said today.