Thousands take shelter as cyclone approaches Bangladesh

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.

Tropical cyclone Sidr – centred in the Bay of Bengal some 258 miles south of Mongla port at noon (6am Irish time) – was expected to make landfall late today along the Khulna-Barisal coast, said Shahjahan Alam, an official at the Meteorological Department in the capital, Dhaka.