WORLD OF CRISIS

Apr 16, 2010

Tornado flattened scores of homes, toll up to 128

PURNIA/RAIGANJ: Hundreds of villages in Bihar and West Bengal lie in ruins as Tuesday's tornado death toll reached 128 on Thursday. While Bihar recorded 82 deaths, 42 people died in West Bengal. Four people died in Assam. At least 29 people died in Baisi, Dagarwa and Amour blocks of Purnia district which were the worst hit in five tornado-affected districts of Bihar. "We have reports of 39 deaths in Purnia district," DM N Saravanan Kumar said.


The tornado ripped through a large number of villages across Purnia, Araria, Katihar, Kishanganj and Supaul districts, flattening thousands of houses within 10 to 15 minutes. Crops and mango and banana orchards were destroyed and hundreds of trees swept off their roots. Sudhir Kumar, commissioner of Purnia division, on Thursday gave the district-wise break-up of casualties: Purnia (39), Araria (33), Katihar (7), Kishanganj (1) and Supaul (1). A Purnia official said one of the injured succumbed late on Thursday evening, taking the toll in Bihar to 82.

A TOI report from Raiganj said death toll increased to 42 — 15 children and 24 women — in West Bengal with three more people succumbing to their injuries at Raiganj Hospital in the last 24 hours. Around 2 lakh people in North Dinajpur and Jalpaiguri districts have been rendered homeless.

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