Storm kills 3, damages over 500 houses in four districts

At least three people were killed and 51 others injured as a nor'wester lashed different upazilas of Pabna, Manikganj, Bandarban and Bhola districts yesterday.

The storm also destroyed over 400 houses, uprooted a good number of trees and damaged crops on hundreds of acres of land, report our district correspondents.

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In Pabna, an elderly man was killed and 50 others were injured during a storm that lashed 50 villages in nine upazilas of the district.
The deceased, Chandu Sheikh, 60, of Brishalikha village in Bera upazila, was killed by lightning while working at a farmland during the storm around 7:00am, said Motiur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Bera Police Station.

At least 50 people were injured and over 350 houses destroyed at 10 villages in Faridpur upazila of the district, said Khalilur Rahman, chairman of Faridpur Upazila Parishad.

Siddikur Rahman, district relief and rehabilitation officer, said the most affected upazilas are Sadar, Faridpur, Santhia and Atghoria. 
In Manikganj, a schoolboy was killed and a girl injured by lightning during a nor'wester at Bachamara village in Daulatpur upazila around 6:30am. They were struck by thunderbolts at their houses. 

A house at Matigachha village in Atghoria upazila under Pabna district lies ravaged as nor'wester hit different districts of the country yesterday. Photo: Star

The deceased, Rafikul Islam, 15, was a Class X student of Bachamara High School. Injured Mahfuza Akhter, also a Class VIII student of the school, is undergoing treatment at a local hospital.

The storm also damaged over 150 houses in Sadar, Harirampur and Daulatpur upazilas.

In Bandarban, a schoolgirl died when a branch of a tree fell on her during a storm that swept through Sadar upazila at noon.

The victim, Bhumika Tangchangya, daughter of Sajal Tangchangya of Sualokpara village, was a Class I student of Sualokpara Govt Primary School. A branch of a tree fell on the girl while she was returning home from her school around 12:15pm. 

Locals rescued the girl and took her to Bandarban Sadar Hospital where the doctors declared her dead.

Away in Bhola, a Monpura-bound cargo-vessel capsized in the Meghna River under Tazumuddin upazila during a storm in the morning.
Police said the vessel, carrying edible oil and 400 bags of cement from Barisal, was caught in a storm near Choumohani Ghat around 10:00am and capsized in the river.