West Bengal: Twin nor'wester death toll reaches 15
Kolkata, Apr 18 (IBNS): Death toll in West Bengal nor'wester rose to 15 as three more fatalities were reported from Kolkata and Howrah, reports said on Wednesday.
According to police reports, at least 15 persons were killed and over 50 people were injured in the twin storms.
Of the 15 casualties, seven were killed in Kolkata, six in adjoining Howrah district and one each in Bankura and Hooghly districts of West Bengal, largely due to incidents of uprooting trees, wall collapse, electrocution and thunder-strike during the storm and downpour, police said.
Tuesday late evening, Kolkata and parts of Bengal were hit by two massive nor'westers with velocities of 84 km per hour and 98 km per hour, respectively, within 13 minutes.
"Breaking the records of last 72 years, two nor'westers hit Kolkata and few other districts of West Bengal on Tuesday late evening," an official of Kolkata Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) told IBNS.
"The first storm with velocity of 84 km per hour hit the city at around 7:42 pm. and the second one, which touched a maximum speed of 98 km per hour, struck at 7:55 pm," the official said.
Following the nor'wester, bus, metro rail, suburban rail and flight services were disrupted for hours when mobile networks, internet and cable TV services had stopped working in many areas.
The storm with heavy rain dragged the mercury down instantly by about 9 degrees.
Meanwhile, the local meteorological centre has issued warnings of storm and heavy rainfall for Wednesday evening.
(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha)
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