Cyclone Amphan kills 12 in West Bengal

Cyclone Amphan killed 12 people in India's West Bengal state and left a trail of destruction in many coastal areas of India and Bangladesh on Wednesday.

The cyclone crossed West Bengal and Bangladesh coasts with wind gusts of up to 185 kilometres per hour, according to the India Meteorological Department.

"Area after area has been ruined. I have experienced a war-like situation today. At least 10-12 people have died," West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee was quoted as saying by local media.

She said the districts of Nandigram and Ramnagar were destroyed.

In Kolkata, the state capital, many areas were flooded with rainwater.

The cyclone's fury destroyed houses, twisted electric poles and knocked down trees in many places.

More than five million subscribers were left without electricity in a dozen districts in Bangladesh's southwest, a local newspaper reported.

Authorities in the two countries had evacuated hundreds of thousands of people from coastal areas before Amphan's landfall.



Dhaka/Mukul