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Tornadoes batter Dhaka, districts: 13 killed

3 feet tidal surge in Patuakhali

Staff Correspondent
At least 13 people were killed and over 500 injured as tornadoes and severe storms lashed capital Dhaka, adjoining Tongi and several central and southwestern districts yesterday.
The coastal belts in Patuakhali
were washed away by two to three feet high tidal surge while rest of the country experienced heavy downpour under the influence of a land depression now crossing the Indian state ofWcst Bengal.
The storms left a trail of devastation in the affected areas and disrupted power and water supplies in
Dhaka and other ci ties and towns.
A tornado hi t Tongi Biswa Ijtema ground at 1:00pm killing three people on the spot while two died on their way to hospitals. TWo workers of Jerin Textiles Mills in Tongi - Babul Miah, 22, and Saiful, 20, — died when a wall collapsed on them.
Over 200 were injured in the three-minute storm.
In Dhaka, a woman was killed in a house collapse in Uttara and a man electrocuted during the storm in Badda. Besides, one each person was killed in tornadoes and severe storms in Barisal, Gopalganj, Bogra
SEE PAGE 19 COL 5
FROM PAGE 1 and Faridpur.
Of the Tongi tornado victims, bodies of two were recovered from the river Turag three hours into the storm. The bodies of Mujibur Rahman, 90, of Rangpur and Ayub Ali, 90, of Barisal were brought to Kakrail mosque in Dhaka.
Locals were searching for more bodies from the river when The Daily Star correspondent visited the tornado spot at about 5:00pm. Red Crescent, firefighters, local police, civil surgeons and volunteers also joined the rescue operation.
The bodies of three other victims -- Azizur Rahman, 40, of Kurigram who died in tornado in Tongi, Rahima Begum, 22, who died in Uttara house collapse and Sohel, 35, who was electrocuted -- were kept at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).
Sohel, a rickshaw-puller, died when he came into contact with a torn electric wire at around 3.30pm.
The body of another unidentified victim of tornado was brought to Tongi 50-bed Hospital while another kept at Moulana Bhasani Medical College Hospital in Uttara.
Of the injured, over 70 people were admitted at the DMCH, six at Combined Military Hospital (CMH), 12 at Tongi Hospital and the rest at other hospitals and clinics in Uttara, Tongi and Gazipur. The condition of 50 injured was stated to be critical.
Moulana Bhasani Medical College Hospital, which is very close to the Ijtema ground, treated about 150 injured, most them were referred to DMCH and other hospitals.
Doctors at the DMCH told The Daily Star that the condition of 12 injured was critical.
Most of the injured in Tongi tornado were devotees at Ijtema ground who were participating in 10-day preparatory conference for upcoming Biswa Ijtema. Around 30,000 devotees from home and abroad are taking part in the conference since October 1.
Witnesses said the tornado hit the Ijtema ground and adjacent five square kilometers area.
"Suddenly heavy winds started blowing from the east and I saw hundreds of tins, pipes and iron were flying as the makeshift houses for the devotees were blown away with the storm," said Golam Azam, 35, a devotee.
"It was like that small pieces of papers were flying in the sky," he said. "All these happened within two or three minutes."
Abdur Rab of Noakhali, another devotee, said he heard hues and cries of hundreds of wounded people during the devastation. He said the tornado destroyed most of the temporary structures in the entire Ijtema ground.
Many houses in Tongi, Gazipur and Uttara were also razed to the ground. A large number of trees were uprooted in nearby Kamarpara and both sides of the Ashulia road.
A report from Gopalganj says a devastating storm hit Tungipara in Gopalganj yesterday morning killing one person and injuring 50 others. Ten of the injured were hospitalised.
The dead was identified as Ekber Sheikh, 12, of village Pathghati in Tungipara upazila.
Our correspondent in Barisal says Ashura Begum, 42, was killed in Otra village in Uzirpur upazila as a tree fell on her during a tornado that hit four villages in Uzirpur and four other villages in Agoiljhara and Gouranadi upazilas.
Besides, a storm hit several villages in Kaukhali upazila in Pirojpur district while the coastal belts experienced two to three feet high tidal surge yesterday.
Our Bogra correspondent says Saju, a 10-year-old boy, was killed in collapse of a mud wall at Khatahali Dakkinpara village of Dupchanchia upazilla while at least 150 houses in Sadar upazila were damaged in a tornado that hit at about 11.30am yesterday.
According to a UNB report, a severe tornado swept Sadar and Boalmari upazilas of Faridpur yesterday leaving a young man dead and 40 others injured. The deceased was identified as Alfu of Karimpur village.
Some 400 houses were damaged when the tornado hit Karimpur, Mollikpur and Bahadurpur villages of Sadar upazila at about 9:00am.
A report from our Jessore correspondent says at least 60 people including six of a family were injured and several hundred houses were destroyed as a tornado lashed 10 villages in Lohagara upazila in Narail district.
Besides, some 35 people including women and children were injured and over 50 houses were damaged in a storm that hit Singra upazila in Natore on Wednesday night.
In Rangpur, several hundred mud and thatched houses were damaged as storm and heavy downpour hit the district yesterday, reports our Rangpur correspondent.
Meanwhile, a report from our staff correspondent in Sylhet says rains for the last 3 days coupled with onrush of waters from the hilly region in the Indian territory have caused inundation of low-lying areas in different upazilas of Sylhet and Sunamganj.
Besides, the road link between Sylhet and Jafflong had been cut off after a bridge collapsed Wednesday evening, locals said.
UNB report from Rajbari says that tornadoes lashed 11 villages in Sadar and Goalando upazilas yesterday injuring at least 25 people and damaging about 1,000 houses. The tornado lasted for one minute at 9:00 in the morning.
Another report from Laxmipur adds: At least 20-25 people were injured and 300 houses damaged when a tornado hit four villages in Sadar, Ramgati and Raipur upazilas Wednesday night.
In separate messages yesterday Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and opposition leader Sheikh Hasina expressed their deep shock at the loss of lives in storms and tornadoes. The opposition leader also demanded necessary aids for the tornado victims.