4 die as Cyclone Remal lashes Bangladesh, India. Nearly 1 million evacuated

Dozens of villages along Bangladesh’s southern coast were flooded on Monday as embankments were washed away or damaged by storm surges

At least four people died across India and Bangladesh. One person was crushed to death by falling concrete in West Bengal’s state capital of Kolkata

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People walk through heavy rain on Monday at shrimp and crab farms in the Shyamnagar area of Satkhira, Bangladesh, as Cyclone Remal passes the country. Photo: Reuters

Published: 7:41am, 27 May 2024Updated: 3:16pm, 27 May 2024

Strong gales and heavy rain brought by Cyclone Remal lashed the coastlines of India and Bangladesh on Monday, killing at least four people and cutting electricity supply to millions before losing intensity.

The year’s first cyclone in the region is the latest of the frequent storms that have pounded the low-lying coasts of the South Asian neighbours in recent years, as climate change drives up surface temperatures at sea.

Fierce winds snapped power lines, uprooted poles and trees and snatched the roofs off some tin and thatched houses while the rain and high tides damaged some embankments and flooded coastal areas.

“We have had no electricity since night, my mobile battery will run out anytime,” said Rahat Raja, a resident of Bangladesh’s coastal district of Satkhira. “By Allah’s grace, the cyclone was not as violent as we thought.”

Commuters travel on a motorised three-wheeler along a road as rain clouds loom in Kolkata, capital of India’s West Bengal state, on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Nearly 3 million people in Bangladesh were without electricity, officials of its power ministry said.