3 killed as Cyclone Mocha slams into Myanmar coast

Thousands of people hunkered down on Sunday in monasteries, pagodas and schools, seeking shelter from a powerful storm that slammed into the coast of Myanmar, tearing the roofs off buildings and killing at least three people.

The center of Cyclone Mocha made landfall on Sunday afternoon in Myanmar's Rakhine state near Sittwe township wind speeds up to 209km, Myanmar's Meteorological Department said.

Myanmar's military information office said the storm had damaged houses, electrical transformers, cell phone towers, boats and lampposts in Sittwe, Kyaukpyu, and Gwa townships, reports UNB citing AP.

It said the storm also tore roofs off of sport buildings on the Coco Islands, about 425 kilometers southwest of the country's largest city, Yangon.

More than 4,000 of Sittwe's 300,000 residents were evacuated to other cities and more than 20,000 people are sheltering in sturdy buildings such as monasteries, pagodas and schools located on the city's highlands, said Tin Nyein Oo, who is volunteering in shelters in Sittwe.

Many local people live in areas more than 3 meters above sea level, where residents believe the storm surge cannot reach, he added.

"The storm has not yet entered, so we don't have much difficulty. However, there are too many people in the shelters and not enough toilets," he added.

Lin Lin, the chairman of a local charitable foundation, said earlier there was not enough food in the shelters in Sittwe after more people arrived than expected.

Titon Mitra, the UN Development Program representative in Myanmar, tweeted: "Mocha has made landfall. Two million people at risk. Damage and losses are expected to be extensive. We are ready to respond and will need unhindered access to all affected communities."

On Sunday, several deaths caused by wind and rain were reported in Myanmar. A rescue team from the country's eastern Shan state announced on its Facebook social media page that they had recovered the bodies of a couple who were buried when a landslide caused by heavy rain hit their house in Tachileik township.

Local media reported that a man was crushed to death when a banyan tree fell on him in Pyin Oo Lwin township in the central Mandalay Region.

In Sittwe, a cell phone tower collapsed under high wind and other buildings were damaged, local media reported.