Cyclone Mocha kills at least 41 in Myanmar's Rakhine state, say local leaders

Cyclone Mocha made landfall near state capital Sittwe on Sunday carrying winds of up to 195 kilometres (120 miles) per hour that hammered low-lying communities.

The death toll in cyclone-hit Myanmar's Rakhine state rose to at least 41 on Tuesday, local leaders told AFP.

Children push a cart full of debris at the Khaung Dote Khar Rohingya refugee camp in Sittwe, in Myanmar's Rakhine state, on Monday. (AFP)

Cyclone Mocha made landfall near state capital Sittwe on Sunday carrying winds of up to 195 kilometres (120 miles) per hour that hammered low-lying communities.

"We can confirm there are 17 deaths," Karlo, the administrator of Bu Ma village, told an AFP reporter at the scene.

"There will be more deaths, as more than a hundred people are missing."

The number is on top of a death toll of 24 given to AFP by a village leader in nearby Khaung Doke Kar.

That leader requested anonymity due to fear of reprisals from the country's junta.

The junta said on Monday that five people had been killed, without specifying exactly where they had died.

It was not clear whether the junta's death toll included any of those killed in Bu Ma and Khaung Doke Kar.