SHATTERED LIVES: Survivors in Barishal, 120km south of Dhaka, grieving yesterday for cyclone victims. -- PHOTO: AP

The storm also triggered a 5m-high water surge that devastated three towns with a combined population of 700,000, officials said yesterday.

'The death count is rising fast as we get more information from the affected districts,' an official at the Food and Disaster Ministry said.

'It may go much higher.'

The towns of Patuakhali, Barguna and Jhalakathi were inundated by the water surge, which cut off communication links.

Thousands of people were reported injured or missing after the cyclone, packing winds of 250kmh, struck late on Thursday night.

The storm washed away hundreds of thatched homes, destroying crops and killing livestock.

Hundreds of fishing boats caught in the cyclone failed to return to shore, and trees and power poles were uprooted, disrupting communication and electricity supplies.

'We have been virtually blacked out all over the country,' said a disaster management official in southern Mongla, another of the worst-hit areas.

Television news reports said more than 100 fishing boats in the Bay of Bengal had failed to return to shore despite repeated storm warnings given over the radio.

Many of the boats may have been small vessels without radio kits.

Madaripur resident Nazrul Islam, 40, said his house was completely destroyed.

'It was a terrible night. I have never seen such a huge storm in my life. My house has collapsed and hundreds of others have also been blown away,' said the shopkeeper.

Businessman Mollik Tariqur Rahman said: 'I cannot describe how devastating it was. It was like doomsday, the most frightening five hours of my life. I thought I would never see my family again.

'There is a trail of destruction everywhere; we can't even detect exactly where our houses were built, only a few are left and they do not have roofs.'

Farmer Badal Sheikh said: 'Trees have fallen across every street and there is not a single house with a tin roof left. The roofs were blown away and smashed by the wind. Now they are lying all over the place.'

Government and volunteer agencies have sent relief and medical teams to the affected areas.

Operations remain suspended at the country's two main seaports, Chittagong and Mongla, and ferry services and flights have yet to resume in the affected coastal region, the authorities said.

By early yesterday, the cyclone had weakened into a tropical storm and was moving across the country to the north-east with the wind speed falling to 60kmh.

The storm also blew past India's eastern coast without causing much damage, police and weather officials there said yesterday.

Bangladesh, a low-lying delta nation, is prone to seasonal cyclones and floods that cause huge losses of life and property.

A severe cyclone killed more than half a million people in 1970, while another in 1991 killed 143,000.

The coastal area is famous for the mangrove forests of the Sundarbans, a World Heritage site that is home to rare Royal Bengal tigers.

REUTERS, ASSOCIATED PRESS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE