31 killed as midnight storm sweeps Bengal district

RAIGANJ/WB: At least 31 people were killed and over a hundred injured when a severe storm devastated four blocks of North Dinajpur district bordering Bangladesh, official sources said on Wednesday.

Additional district magistrate P K Dutta said that the maximum number of 18 deaths occurred in Karandighi block while eight others were killed in Raiganj when the storm swept through the district midnight last night.

Three people were killed at Hemtabad and two others at Kaliaganj, he said, adding that two other blocks - Itahar and Chakulia - were partly affected.

Dutta said the toll might rise as detailed information was not immediately available from the far-flung areas of the district.

Civil Defence Minister Srikumar Mukherjee said the main police barrack in Raiganj was razed and many were injured as tin roofs of the houses were blown away by the storm.

Thousands of trees were uprooted affecting road communication and the National Highway 34 was blocked for several hours, Mukherjee said.

The sources said at least 100 persons were hospitalised. Around 50,000 dwellings were destroyed and hundreds of people have been rendered homeless.

He said the storm struck when the people had retired to their beds and the casualties were high because most of the houses that were razed were built with mud.