A cyclone in Bangladesh has killed nearly 600 people and left thousands injured or missing.

The category four Cyclone Sidr struck with winds of up to 155 miles per hour.

Hundreds of thousands of people living in coastal towns have fled their homes before a 15-ft tidal surge devastated villages.

Local officials and Red Crescent workers said 587 deaths have been confirmed.

But some reports have even suggested that the death toll could be over a thousand.

The worst of the cyclone is thought to be over and the attention has turned to assessing damage and distributing aid.

Storms batter the poor south Asian country every year. A severe cyclone killed more than half a million people in 1970, while another in 1991 killed 143,000.

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