Cyclone Mocha death toll rises to 41 in Myanmar’s Rakhine state

The death toll in cyclone-hit Myanmar's Rakhine state rose to 41 on Tuesday, local leaders told AFP, as villagers tried to piece together ruined homes and waited for aid and support.

Packing winds of up to 195 kilometres (120 miles) per hour, Mocha made landfall on Sunday, downing power pylons and smashing wooden fishing boats to splinters.

At least 41 people died in the villages of Bu Ma and nearby Khaung Doke Kar, inhabited by the persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority, local leaders told AFP reporters at the scene.

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"There will be more deaths, as more than a hundred people are missing," said Karlo, the head of Bu Ma village near state capital Sittwe.

Nearby, Aa Bul Hu Son, 66, said prayers at the grave of his daughter, whose body was recovered on Tuesday morning.

A girl draws water from a pump at Basara camp in Sittwe on Tuesday after cyclone Mocha made a landfall. AFP

"I wasn't in good health before the cyclone, so we were delayed in moving to another place," he told AFP.

"While we were thinking about moving, the waves came immediately and took us."

"I just found her body in the lake in the village and buried her right away. I can't find any words to express my loss."

Other residents walked the seashore searching for family members swept away by a storm surge that accompanied the cyclone, AFP correspondents said.

Mocha was the most powerful cyclone to hit the area in over a decade, churning up villages, uprooting trees and knocking out communications across much of Rakhine state.

Myanmar's junta said on Monday that five people were killed, without specifying where.

It was not clear whether that toll included any of those killed in Bu Ma and Khaung Doke Kar.

AFP has contacted a junta spokesman for comment on the new death toll.