West Bengal: 13 killed, 25 injured after nor'wester strikes

At least 13 people were killed and over 25 injured after lightning struck them during a nor'wester that hit different parts of West Bengal last night, a senior official of the state disaster management said today.

Of the 13 , three each died in Nadia, Murshidabad and North 24 Parganas districts, and two each in Dakshin Dinajpur and Malda.

"Most of them were outside their house and working in their fields while lightning struck them," he said.

Among the four persons injured due to lightning strike in Purulia district, two of them were reported to be critical, the official said.

Alerts were issued across all the blocks in the districts and necessary precautionary measures were taken, in view of the warnings issued by the weather department, he said.