An erasures assisted block code decoder and related method are provided. The erasures assisted block code decoder includes a first block decoder, an erasures processor, and a second block code decoder. The first block decoder, for example, a Reed-Solomon decoder, is configured to decode blocks of data elements, e.g., bytes, that were previously affected by bursty errors. The first block decoder is also configured to identify those of such blocks it is unable to decode. The erasures processor is configured to identify, as erasures, data elements in the un-decodable blocks by utilizing, in the erasures identification process, data elements in the decoded blocks that were corrected by the first block decoder. The second block decoder, e.g., the same or different Reed-Solomon decoder, is configured to decode one or more of the un-decodable blocks by utilizing, in the decoding, the erasures identified by the erasures processor.