Wildlife experts fear endangered tigers and other animals in the Sunderbans mangrove forest may have also perished in Cyclone Sidr.

A massive relief effort was launched to provide aid to the millions of affected Bangladeshis left without shelter, food or medicines in the low-lying south of the country, which was the worst affected.

News agency correspondents report that survivors have become angry over the slow response to the disaster by officials in the capital of Dhaka.

But relief officials say that many locations have been cut off by washed-out roads, leaving the impoverished country’s spartan helicopter fleet as the only way to provide assistance. The United States dispatched ships and Marines to aid in the relief effort.

The Red Crescent society says that up to 10,000 people may have died during the storm surge, but that number could climb even further as waterborne disease spreads through the disaster zone.

Cyclone Sidr track

Video: UNICEF         Digg This