Bangladesh struggles to cope with cyclone

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Thousands of families along the battered coastline are living in the open, as early winter cold and fog make their lives even more miserable a week after the cyclone that killed around 3,500 people.

Donor representatives in Dhaka on Thursday pledged up to $200 million for immediate aid and long-term rehabilitation, disaster management ministry officials said.

"Please try to send food to the survivors fast, because there is nothing to eat. Even people cannot breathe normally due to the stench of the dead," said survivor Anwar Hossain, a village chief.

"Some food packets were air-dropped, but this is not adequate for thousands of survivors," he said.

The country representative of the World Food Programme, Douglas Broderick, said: "We need $45 million immediately to run survival food-aid for the next three months."

U.S. navy ships USS Essex and the USS Kearsarge, each carrying 20 or more helicopters, were expected to arrive at Chittagong port on Saturday or early Sunday.

"The Bangladesh government in a high-level meeting has approved U.S. participation in the ongoing relief operation and will welcome ships on arrival," Brigadier-General Kazi Abidus Samad, an operations commander, told Reuters.

Abidus earlier said Bangladesh army officials were sorting out operational details of two U.S. C-130 transport aircraft that arrived late on Sunday carrying 35 tonnes of relief materials.

He said the aircraft would stay to assist relief operations after the arrival of the U.S. ships, which would be based in Chittagong.

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