Local officials and Red Crescent workers said on Friday 508 deaths had already been confirmed, while hundreds more were injured or missing after Cyclone Sidr devastated the country's coastline.

The Government and various aid agencies have launched a relief effort to help those who have been stranded.

The number of people who are known to have been killed by the enormous storm is steadily increasing.

As phone lines to hard-hit coastal communities are restored, the relief and rescue agencies are gaining a clearer image of the disaster.

The worst affected region is the strip that runs between the cities of Khulna and Barisal, and then down to the Bay of Bengal.

There are reports that thousands of houses and fields there have been damaged by the high speed winds and in some areas by tidal surges. © 2007 Australian Broadcasting Corporation