At least 16 people, including a woman and her three minor sons, were killed and nearly 1,000 homes damaged in a powerful storm that hit northern and northwestern Bangladesh, disrupting normal life in the region.
"Eight people were killed as the afternoon storm called 'kalboishakhi' (nor'wester) lashed the Notrokona district," a district administration official told PTI over phone.
"The deceased include a mother and her three minor sons who were crushed to death as the tin roof of their house collapsed last night during the storm," he said, adding the storm lasted for an hour in the area.
"The storm also killed three others, burying them alive under their collapsed huts," the official said.
The storm swept through northeastern Sunamganj area, killing four people early this morning.
A fisherman was killed when lighting struck an area in the western Goalanda region," he said. Ferry services were suspended in the northwestern Bangladesh.
About 1,000 homes were also destroyed in the storm, said the government official.
An inter-city train heading northwestern Dinajpur narrowly escaped a tragedy as the storm hit while it was crossing the Bangabandhu bridge over the Jamuna river dividing central Bangladesh and northwestern region around midnight last night.
The storm derailed nine of the 13 coaches of the train, witnesses said, on the middle of the bridge.
It forced authorities to suspend the railway services between the northwest and southwestern region.
The nor'wester storm is a seasonal phenomenon that appears in Bangladesh and adjacent parts of neighbouring India in early summer period.
