Bangladeshi authorities sent food and emergency supplies to the north on Friday as the toll from a violent storm rose to 66 with bodies recovered from ponds, rice fields and ruined homes.
Survivors buried the dead and tended injured, many lying in the open. In several villages, mass prayers were held for the victims.
Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia visited the injured in hospital and devastated families in storm-hit villages on Friday. She assured them help would be given where needed.
“The government, as ever, will remain beside you at this time of your extreme tragedy and will help you stand on your feet again,” the prime minister said.
'Turn sorrows into strength'
Opposition leader Sheikh Hasina also visited some affected areas on Friday.
“We have known to live with disasters and face them courageously. Let us stand united, face the latest havoc and turn our sorrows into strength,” Hasina said.
“Village after village is lying in ruins. People are still in trauma. Only the brave are trying to rebuild their lives,” said Prasanta Kumar Das, a local official in Netrokona, a town in the north near areas that bore the brunt of the storm on Wednesday night.
The death toll was likely to rise further as many of about 2,000 people injured in the storm were still in critical condition, officials and witnesses said.
The army has provided tents and medical aid.
Hospitals were crammed with hundreds of people seeking treatment for injuries caused by flying debris.
Tornado probable
Many were hit by corrugated tin ripped off roofs; others broke legs or hands or were found half buried in swampy rice fields, witnesses said.
“We are facing an uphill battle trying to reach all the victims and getting aid to them. There is a lot of work ahead of us,” Nurul Islam, an aid worker, said from Netrokona.
Officials supervising rescue and relief efforts said the scale of destruction suggested the wind speed could have been more than 150 mph and the Dhaka meteorology office said the storm was probably a tornado.
Storms and tornadoes are common in densely populated Bangladesh in the hot season, sometimes killing hundreds of people.
