UPDATE - 12 dead, millions affected as Cyclone Remal batters Bangladesh, India

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS, CHANGES HEADER, DECK, INTRO

By SM Najmus Sakib

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – At least 10 people were killed in six coastal districts of Bangladesh as a result of Cyclone Remal, an official said Monday. Two more people were killed in neighboring India, bringing the total death toll in the two countries to 12 from the cyclone that made landfall Sunday night.

Md. Mohibur Rahman, Bangladesh's deputy minister for disaster management and relief, told reporters that the cyclone affected over 3.7 million people and more than 150,000 households across the country’s 19 coastal districts.

Telecommunication Regulatory Commission reports that 45 districts are experiencing mobile network issues after power outages.

Chattogram Divisional Commissioner Md Tofail Islam earlier told Anadolu that they were struggling to gather information as most of the southeastern coastal districts lost electricity and mobile network connection due to the cyclone.

“Thousands of more people joined the shelter on Sunday night soon after the cyclone made landfall,” he said.

Md. Nazmul Hussein Khan, a coastal Khulna district official, told Anadolu that over 452,000 people were affected in the district alone with over 76,900 households being destroyed.

“Crops over 12,700 hectares of agricultural land and 5,575 shrimp enclosures were destroyed,” he added.

Arabinda Biswas, an official at the badly affected coastal Bagerhat district, told Anadolu that 45,000 households were destroyed. There is no electricity in most of the villages as they remain submerged, he added.

The cyclone, named Remal, made landfall at 9 p.m. local time (1500GMT) but had already caused heavy rains, storms, and high tides.

As Cyclone Remal sweeps through the coastal areas of southern and southwestern Bangladesh, 8.4 million people, including 3.2 million children, are at risk of devastating impacts, threatening their rights to health, nutrition, sanitation, and safety, UNICEF Bangladesh said on Monday.

- Effects in India

Meanwhile, officials in eastern Indian West Bengal state said two people were killed as Cyclone Remal battered the region, damaging trees and houses.

Flight operations resumed in the morning at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in the capital Kolkata after it was closed on Sunday in view of the cyclone, said the officials.

India’s National Disaster Response Force wrote on X that it is closely monitoring the “post-landfall situation” in the state and its 14 rescue teams deployed across the state are “now actively engaged in restoration work with local agencies.”

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*Ahmad Adil in New Delhi contributed to this report