Nor'wester claims nine lives in Bangladesh

Nine people were killed and many others injured when a nor'wester swept through a number of districts of Bangladesh, media reports said on Wednesday.

The storm also damaged crops, houses, disrupted power supply, uprooted many trees and electricity polls in Habiganj, Dinajpur, Jamalpur, Gaibandha, Kishoreganj and Sherpur districts, bdnews24.com reported.

A mother and a child in Habiganj's Baniachang were killed when a tree fell on their house during the storm on Tuesday night.

A man was also killed in Nabiganj in the same district.

The deceased have been identified as Nurjahan Begum, 22, Robin Mia, 4, and Ramzan Ali alias Lal Mia, 40.

Baniachang police station in-charge Nirmalendu Chakrabarty said a tree fell on the tin-shed house, killing the mother and child on the spot.

Lal Mia from Nabiganj was pronounced dead after he was rushed to Upazila Health Complex, said the area's police station in-charge Liakat Ali.

Earlier, in Chirirbandar upazila of Dinajpur, a child died when the walls of a house collapsed in the storm.

The powerful storm also caused damage and disrupted electricity supply across the upazila.

The storm that lasted for about 20 minutes damaged paddy and corn fields and uprooted hundreds of trees, Chirirbandar Union chairman Shah Motiur Rahman said.

In Jamalpur's Bakshiganj and Dewanganj upazilas, one person was killed and at least 50 people were injured in house collapses.

The deceased Nijhum, 18, was inside the house when it collapsed.

Jamalpur Deputy Commissioner Md. Shahabuddin Khan said the storm on Tuesday night damaged at least 500 houses in the upazila

After inspection, Shahabuddin Khan told reporters that a sum of 200,000 taka, 15 metric tons of rice and 15 bundles of tin have been distributed among the victims.

A class three schoolboy in Kishoreganj's Sadar upazila was killed when a tree fell on a house. His mother and brother were injured in the incident.

In Gaibandha, Nawab Ali Mandal, 60, of Sadullapur upazila died after a tree fell on him.

Many trees were uprooted and over 1,000 mud houses collapsed in Gaibandha district.

No local newspaper in the district was published on Wednesday.

Haider Ali, 60, of Nalitabarhi in Sherpur died when a tree fell on a house.

A nine-year-old child was killed in Shribardi upazila.

The power connection to several areas in the district remained snapped since 1 a.m. Wednesday.

According to an earlier report, five people were killed and 50 others were injured in the storm.