Staff Reporter :A strong nor’wester lashed different parts of the country, especially the northern districts again on Saturday night leaving at least 28 people dead and many others injured.Rain or thundershowers accompanied by temporary westerly or north-westerly kalbaishakhi squalls packing a wind of 60-80 kph or more at places is likely to occur over the regions of Rajshahi, Pabna, Bogra, Tangail, Mymensingh, Dhaka, Faridpur, Jessore, Kushtia, Khulna, Barisal, Patuakhali, Noakhali, Comilla, Chittagong and Sylhet with isolated hails at places during the 15 hours from 1:30 pm on Sunday, said a Met office squall warning.The nor’wester killed 19 persons in Bogra, four in Rajshahi and two in capital Dhaka, one in Naogaon, one in Sirajganj and one in Natore. Besides, the hailstorm damaged hundreds of thatched and mud-houses and uprooted thousands of trees and disrupted power supply throughout the country.Apart from these, road communications on different highways came to a halt as hundreds of roadside trees fell down on the highways. A good number of long distance transports, including buses and goods-laden trucks, had remained stranded on the highways.Ferry services on Mawa-Kawrakandi, Shimulia-Kawrakandi and Daulatdia-Paturia routes remained suspended following the nor’wester on Saturday night. In Bogra, at least 19 people were killed as the nor’wester lashed al-most all upazilas of the district. Shafikur Reja Biswas, Deputy Commissioner of Bogra, however, confirmed the death of 17 people and injuries to many others in the district. “Some 17 people were killed and we have information that two other persons also died in the nor’wester,” the Deputy Commissioner told The New Nation on Sunday. He added the nor’wester damaged many establishments, uprooted trees and electrical posts disrupting power supply in many places. “Of the victims, four people were killed in Bogra Sadar upazila, three in Shahjahanpur, two each in Shariakandi and Kahaloo and one each in Gabtoli, Sonatola and Dhanut upazilas,” Shafikur Reja said. He said about 70 of the injured victims were rushed to Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College and Hospital while the others received treatment at different local hospitals and clinics.Our Bogra correspondent adds: The storm left at least 19 people killed and over 200 injured in different upazilas of the district.The deceased were identified as Aziron Bewa, 38, six-month old Nila, Polash, 18, and Rojob, 15, in Sadar upazila while Sujan, 30, and Shanta Begum, 50, in Shariakandi, Afzal Hossain, 45, in Dhunat, Azizar, 35, Ismail, 37, in Kahaloo, Feroza Bewa, 55, in Sonatola, Mojira Begum, 60, in Gabtoli, and Payel, 18, Abdul Mannan, 35, Rabeya Bewa, 65, in Shahjahanpur upazila. Identities of the rest five victims could not be known yet.District Administration and hospital sources said, at least 63 injured were hospitalised in different hospitals in the district but the number of injured people might exceed to 100.Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture Extension Chandi Das Kundu said, the storm damaged maize, wheat, mango and jackfruit trees but it did not cause damage to the paddy. Besides, a large number of trees were uprooted while establishments and other institutions damaged. In the capital two workers died from electrocution in Bijoy Sarani area under Kafrul thana in the capital early Sunday. The deceased were identified as Mizanur Rahman, 38, and Abbas, 31.According to police, Mizanur and Abbas got electric shock when they came in contact with a live electric wire while they were re-fixing a billboard damaged by the storm in the area last night and died on the spot.Five people, including independent MP Haji Mohammad Selim, were injured in separate incidents during the storm. The lawmaker suffered minor injury as a billboard collapsed on his vehicle in front of Ramna Tennis Club during the storm.All of the injured were rushed to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH).Following the storm, many substations were shut down as technical glitch developed and stopped power supply within its controlled areas. Officials of Dhaka Power Distribution Company Ltd (DPDC) which operates mainly in South, West and Central parts of the city said they received complaints from many areas, including Dhanmondi, Lalbagh, Motijheel, Moghbazar, Malibagh and Ramna. In Rajshahi, three people were killed and 10 others injured as a nor’wester lashed several upazilas of Rajshahi on Saturday night.The deceased were identified as Jahanara Begum, 60, of Pakuria village in Bagha upazila, Emajuddin, 47, of Kishorepur village in the same upazila and Monwara Begum, 65, of Char Asariadah village in Godagari upazila.Witnesses said Jahanara died on the spot as a wall of earthen house collapsed on her at Pakuria village as the storm swept the village in the evening.On the other hand, the storm lashed several villages of Godagari upazila and damaged several houses, leaving Monwara dead on the spot and several people injured.Besides, Emajuddin went to the shore of Padma River when the nor’wester lashed Kishorepur village at the same time. A mudslide collapsed on him as he tried to recover his boat during the storm, leaving him dead on the spot.The storm destroyed over 50 houses, and uprooted a number of trees, local people said. In Natore, one person was killed as a hailstorm swept through the district on Saturday night.The deceased was identified as Khokan Hossain, a resident of Charpipla village in Gurudaspur upazila, says our district correspondent Locals said a thunderbolt struck Khokan during the hailstorm at night, leaving him dead on the spot.In Naogaon, one woman was killed at Manda in the district. The deceased, identified as Shahnaz Parveen, 35, died when a wall collapsed on her.Manda Police Station OC Mozaffar Hossain said more than 50 people were injured in the storm. Of them, 11 were taken to the local health complex.A tea-stall owner Jamuddin Baksh of Pabna’s Chandmari died when a tree fell on his shop, SI of Sadar Police Station Tariqul Islam said. Sirajganj Correspondent adds: one person was killed by boat capsized during the storm. At least 15 people were injured in the storm. The nor’wester coupled with rain caused huge damage to trees and standing crops and power disruption in district`s Kazirpur upazila on Saturday.
