Tornado injures 15 in Bangladesh

[senorpepr]

A TORNADO tore through nearly 25 villages in northern Bangladesh today, injuring more than a dozen villagers and damaging about 2000 flimsy huts, a local official said.

The tornado hit when most people were asleep in the villages in northern Nilphamari district, ABM Sarifuddin, a local administrative officer, said.

Nearly 2000 straw, bamboo and mud huts collapsed, leaving at least 3000 families homeless in the district, 290km north of the Bangladesh capital, Dhaka.

The villagers reported a soft drizzle followed by a roaring gust of wind when the twister hit, Sarifuddin said quoting witnesses.

Tropical storms and cyclones are common in this impoverished South Asian delta nation of 140 million people.

Another tornado tore through eastern Narayanganj district on Monday, injuring at least 20 people and leaving about 300 villagers homeless, officials said.

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