A massive rescue and relief operation has been mounted Saturday by thousands of soldiers and civilian volunteers in southern Bangladesh, which was tossed by a devastating tropical cyclone that left a trail of death and destruction.

Rescuers counted another 300 bodies of people killed in Friday's cyclone that triggered mudslides and flash floods, taking the death toll to over 1000, officials said Saturday.

Most deaths occurred in the Patuakhali-Barisal coastal zone in southern Bangladesh and on offshore islands where nearly 450 people, including several children, were found dead, said a spokesperson of the national flood warning and control centre.

Hurricane-strength Cyclone Sidr unleashed its full fury on the coastal belt, the home of over 42,000 fishermen and their families.

The storm also struck the capital Dhaka and its suburbs Friday, killing 11 people and injuring 500 as trees were plucked from the ground by raging winds, which reached speeds touching 250 km per hour.

The national meteorological centre warned of heavy rains across the country in Bangladesh in the coming days under the influence of the cyclone.