Dhaka: At least seven people were killed in Cox's Bazar and Rangamati districts as severe cyclonic storm 'Mora' hit Cox's Bazar-Chittagong coast near Kutubdia on Tuesday morning.

In Cox's Bazar, four people were killed as tree collapsed on them in Chakaria and Sadar upazilas while a panicked woman, Mariam Begum, died of cardiac arrest at a cyclone centre at Jetty Ghat No 6 of the district town, deputy commissioner of Cox's Bazar M Ali Hossain told reporters.

The four deceased were identified as Rahmatullah, 50, of East Domkhali, Sayera Khatun, 50, of East Borohaula in Chakaria upazila, Abdul Hanif, 40, of Pekua upazila and Shahina Akhter, 10, of Islambad in Sadar upazila.

Besides, 20,000 houses were damaged during the cyclone, said the DC adding that they could not yet assess the total losses in damages caused by the cyclone.

Meanwhile, the administration has provided 100 metric tonnes of rice and Tk 1 lakh for the cyclone-affected people.

In Rangamati, a schoolgirl, Zahida Sultana Nahima, and a woman, Hajera Begum, were killed in Asambasti and Vedvedi areas of Sadar upazila as tree branches fell on them in the morning, said officer-in-charge of Kotwali Police Station Abdur Rashid.

Besides, over 200 houses were damaged in the district town and electricity connections were snapped during the storm.

In Bagerhat, nearly 34,000 people of four upazilas --Sharankhola, Morelganj, Rampal and Mongla upazilas -- who took shelter in asylum centres, returned home on Tuesday afternoon as the cyclone is weakening gradually, deputy commissioner of Bagerhat Tapan Kumar Bishwas told UNB.

The loading and unloading of goods at Mongla port which was suspended on Monday resumed at abot 3:00pm on Tuesday, said chairman of Mongla Port Authority Navy Commodore AKM Faruk Hasan.

The gusty winds and heavy rains in the coastal districts of Chittagong and Cox's Bazar, triggered by the landfall of powerful severe cyclonic storm, are likely to continue for 12 hours though the cyclone has weakened.

Earlier, the storm made a landfall at about 6:00am packing a speed of 89 Kph rising up to 117 Kph in gusts or squalls in Cox's Bazar district town and within 64 Kms of the cyclone centre.

It later moved towards Chittagong around 7:30am and crossed the coastal areas at about 10:30am.

- 'Nobody came' -

Cyclone Mora comes days after heavy rains in Sri Lanka killed at least 193 people, many of them buried under landslides, and brought the worst flooding the island has seen in 14 years.

South Asia is frequently hit by flooding in the summer with the arrival of the annual monsoon rains. On Tuesday they hit the southern Indian state of Kerala, from where the will sweep across the country over the coming months.

Mohammad Anam, a Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh last year after an outbreak of violence in Myanmar, said there had been no attempt to evacuate the minority community, many of whom are undocumented.

"Nobody came to alert or evacuate us. When the storm came we rushed to local schools to take shelter," he told AFP.

However Abul Hashim, a spokesman for the disaster management department, told AFP the authorities only evacuated the most vulnerable from low-lying coastal areas.

"Rohingya live in hilly areas. There is no chance for these areas to be inundated by storm surge," he said.

Authorities called in all fishing vessels and suspended flights to and from airports in Chittagong and Cox's Bazar. 

The weather department said the cyclone lost power as it headed into the Rangamati hill district and turned into a depression, bringing rain.  

Bangladesh is routinely hit between April and December by severe storms that cause deaths and widespread damage.

In May last year Cyclone Roanu hit the southern coast of Bangladesh, leaving 20 people dead and forcing half a million to flee their homes.

In 2007 Cyclone Sidr killed nearly 4,000 people and caused damage worth billions of dollars.

In neighbouring India, the National Disaster Management Authority advised fishermen in the eastern coastal state of West Bengal bordering Bangladesh to stay in port.

Weather authorities warned of strong winds and heavy rain across much of northeast India, although the cyclone was expected to weaken as it crossed the country.