The death toll from a savage cyclone in Bangladesh reached 1,723 today as military helicopters and ships joined rescue efforts in the wake of the deadliest storm to hit the country in a decade.
Storm victims try to retrieve their belongings from their destroyed homes in Barisal town, 280 km (174 miles) from the capital Dhaka today.
Tropical Cyclone Sidr flattened tens of thousands of homes in south-west Bangladesh Thursday and left millions more without power.
More than a million coastal villagers were forced to evacuate to government shelters.
The latest death figure tallied to 1,723, with 474 deaths reported from worst-hit Barguna district and 385 from neighbouring Patuakhali, a military spokesman, Lt. Col. Moyeenullah Chowdhury, told reporters in the capital, Dhaka.