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Storm kills 31 in eastern India: State Minister |
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(04/14/2010)
India, PAB-Online
A storm in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal has killed 31 people
and destroyed 50,000 homes, a State Minister told AFP on Wednesday.
The storm swept through a northern district of the state bordering Bangladesh late on Tuesday, knocking down homes, trees and electricity and telephone lines.
"The storm ripped through four blocks of North Dinajpur district, about 600 kilometres (372 miles) north of Kolkata," said West Bengal Minister of State for Civil Defence Srikumar Mukherjee.
"Most of the victims were buried under the collapsed walls of their homes," he said, adding that the number of injured was unknown.
The storm was an extreme form of what is locally known as a "nor'wester" -- a weather pattern that develops over the nearby Bay of Bengal during the hot months of the year, the local weather office told AFP.
Nor'westers normally bring refreshing winds that blow across the Gangetic plain of West Bengal in March and April and lower temperatures in the low-lying area, Gokul Chandra Debnath, director of the regional weather office, told AFP.
Relief has been rushed to the affected villages and homeless people are being shifted to local schools and government offices, Mukherjee said.(AFP/IP)
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