More than 3,400 people have been confirmed dead and the government estimates that 360,000 people have been left homeless by cyclone Sidr which smashed into the southern coast on November 15, prompting a massive aid operation.

"The relief operation has gathered pace with the arrival of more aid from donor countries, agencies and private charities. We've also got increased logistics support," said Navy commander Bashir Ahmed, who is coordinating help to the worst-hit Barguna district.

Sidr was the second most powerful storm to hit the country since records began, experts say.

Ahmed said he believed virtually all survivors had received at least two deliveries of aid.

The needs, however, remained huge and it would take weeks to ensure adequate supplies to all victims, he added.

US marines from the USS Kearsarge, which arrived off the coast of Bangladesh on Friday, were carrying out air lifts of water and other supplies for a second day, a US embassy official said.

From Monday, US military aircraft would also begin to transport 160 tonnes of aid from Dhaka to the southern city of Barisal, the spokesman added.

In the badly-hit Patharghata town, local administrator Salim Khan told AFP supplies were finally reaching victims.

"The emergency crisis is overcome," he said, adding, however, that more materials would be needed later.

Aid workers said getting fresh water to victims remained a priority as the prospect of outbreaks of water-borne diseases loomed.

Many of those in coastal districts have seen their traditional sources of drinking water contaminated by saline water which cannot be treated by water purification tablets.

Authorities expect the death toll to rise.

"Some 1,734 people are missing," said Major Nawrose, who uses one name, of the armed forces control room, adding that many of those unaccounted for were likely to have been swept away by the tidal surge.

Others were fishermen who "went out to sea before the cyclone and did not return, although we cannot say they are all dead yet," Nawrose added.

In Patharghata, popularly known as the fishing capital of Bangladesh, the industry directly supports 200,000 people.

Coastguards and the government's weather department had warned boats to stay in port as the cyclone approached. But many villagers told AFP they did not take the warning seriously because of frequent previous alerts.

In a sign of the precarious situation, one person died and 10 more were seriously injured Saturday when a bridge in the southern Patuakhali district collapsed under the weight of 1,000 people queueing for relief.

Bangladesh is one of the world's poorest countries where 40 percent of the 144 million population lives on less than a dollar a day.

The United Nations estimated that the cyclone has affected 6.7 million people in 30 of the country's 64 districts, causing severe economic losses.

Bangladesh's interim finance minister said Sunday that the economic impact of Cyclone Sidr was "huge" but it was too early to estimate the extent of the damage to the country's ailing economy.

Bangladesh's 69-billion-dollar economy was projected to grow at seven percent in the year ending June 2008. But even before the cyclone, floods had forced the central bank to lower its growth forecast to 6.5 percent.

The economy expanded at a record 6.6 percent last year.

The Bangladesh think-tank, the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), gave an initial damage estimate of more than 1.5 billion dollars and predicted growth would slow to five to six percent.

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