Bangladesh Red Crescent reports first death from Cyclone Amphan

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A car drives past fallen tree branches along a road ahead of the expected landfall of cyclone Amphan in Digha, West Bengal, on May 20, 2020. – India and Bangladesh began evacuating more than two million people on May 18 as a cyclone barrelled towards their coasts, with officials racing to ready extra shelters amid fears of coronavirus contagion in cramped refuges. (Photo by Dibyangshu SARKAR / AFP)

KHULNA, Bangladesh (AFP) — A Bangladesh Red Crescent volunteer drowned Wednesday when a boat capsized while evacuating villagers in the path of Cyclone Amphan, the organization said.

“There were four of them on the boat when it sank,” Nurul Islam Khan, director of the Cyclone Preparedness Programme of the Bangladesh Red Crescent, told AFP.

Amphan, one of the fiercest cyclones in decades, was due to make landfall late Wednesday afternoon with forecasts of a potentially devastating and deadly storm surge.

© Agence France-Presse