The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

As the official death toll from the tropical cyclone Sidr that wreaked havoc on southwestern parts of the country reached 3,018 yesterday, the United Nations and other international agencies have come forward to support post-cyclone relief and rehabilitation work.

However, the UN and other international agencies are still showing very poor response in sending assistance for thousands of cyclone affected people of the country's coastal belts.

Unofficial sources claim that the death toll could have reached several thousands as the cyclone Sidr tore apart villages, severely disrupted power lines and forced more than a million coastal villagers to evacuate to government shelters. Most deaths occurred in the Patuakhali-Barisal coastal zone in southern parts of the country and on offshore islands where nearly 450 people.

The storm also struck the capital Dhaka and its suburbs, killing 11 people and injuring 500 as trees were plucked from the ground by raging winds.

The government yesterday requested the United Nations