Myanmar western coast residents evacuated

Thousands of locals residing along the coast of Myanmar's western Rakhine state have been evacuated to the hills as of Monday evening in the wake of a storm warning over the last few days.

The state's capital Sittway is likely to face dangers of high tide from cyclonic storm Mahasen in southwest of Bay of Bengal, Xinhua news agency reported.

Myanmar's Meteorology and Hydrology Department said Monday cyclone Mahasen travelling at 80 to 90 km per hour and designated as yellow stage was not moving towards the Myanmar coast.

However, the storm is likely to cross between northern part of Myanmar's Rakhine state and Bangladesh coast on Thursday evening.

Trawlers, vessels and ships have been warned against possible dangers.

Cyclone Mahasen over the southeast of Bay of Bengal is now centered at 752 km southwest of Cocogyun, 896 km southwest of Pathein, 960 km southwest of Kyaulphyu of Myanmar and 576 km southeast of Chennai, India.