Stormy South Asia: 93 dead
2004-10-09 11:26
New Delhi - Unseasonably heavy downpours have triggered landslides and submerged large areas in north-eastern India, Bangladesh and Nepal for the past three days, leaving at least 93 people dead, officials said on Saturday.
Bangladesh was the worst hit, with tornadoes and heavy rains lashing the country's north, killing 39 people and injuring hundreds of others, officials and news reports said.
In neighbouring Nepal, at least five people were killed on Saturday and several reported missing in a landslide that buried a bus and truck in the western mountains of the Himalayan kingdom, said police official Dev Adhikari.
Saturday's deaths brought the toll of those killed from rains, floods and flood-related diseases this year to 2 262 in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. Most of the casualties occurred during the monsoon season which runs from June to September.
Series of tornadoes hit
In Bangladesh, eight people were killed by falling debris and more than 200 people were injured when a twister hit a crowded tin-roofed prayer hall in Tongi town near Dhaka, Abdul Based, a police official in Tongi, told The Associated Press.
Another 27 people were killed and nearly 2 000 injured on Thursday when a series of rainstorms and tornadoes tore through the northern districts of Rangpur, Dinajpur and Kurigram.
Meanwhile, four others were killed in northern Mymensingh and central Faridpur districts, said Nazmul Ara Khanam, a local administrative official.
In India's remote north-eastern state of Assam, at least 35 people have died after heavy rains triggered three landslides on Thursday and caused flash floods in many areas, including the state capital, Gauhati.
Twelve bodies were found on Saturday in Krishnai village after flood waters receded, said Deepak Kumar Goswami, a district magistrate in Goalpara district, 180km west of Gauhati.
"We fear many more people have been killed. The army and paramilitary soldiers are helping rescue people and transporting them to safer areas," Goswami said.
Power shut off
Fierce winds uprooted trees, smashed walls and knocked out electricity throughout Gauhati. Authorities shut off the supply late on Thursday to keep people from being electrocuted and by Saturday, there was still no power in many parts of the city.
The Assam state government ordered schools and colleges be closed till Monday. Trains were cancelled or rescheduled, stranding many travellers.
Another 14 people have died in India's West Bengal state, after heavy rains led to the collapse of their mud and brick homes, Hafiz Alam Sairani, the state's relief minister, said Saturday.
"The homeless had been put up in relief camps and relief materials like food and plastic sheets are being supplied to them," Sairani said.
- AP