DHAKA, 16 April 2004 — At least 60 people were feared killed, including women and children, and some 700 injured as a powerful tornado ripped through several villages in northern districts of Netrokona and Mymensingh Wednesday night.
Official sources yesterday confirmed 56 deaths, but locals said the figure must be more as reports of death and destruction caused by the twister were pouring in from remote areas.
Reports received in Dhaka said at least 42 people were killed in Netrokona and 16 in Mymensingh as houses, trees — almost anything that fell in the path of the tornado — were blown away. Many villagers are missing.
Around 400 injured were admitted to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital and 100 others to Haluaghat Health Complex.
Police sources in Netrokona said some 26 people were killed in Sadar and five in Purbadhala sub-district. Seven injured from Netrokona died in Mymensingh Medical College Hospital.
They said 18 people died in Haluaghat, but the unofficial toll was 30.
Six villages in Haluaghat — Gazirvita, Boalmara, Sumuliapara, Surjapur, Najobkanda and Kalianikanda — were razed to ground.
In Netrokona Sadar sub-district, Uladi, Kanchanpur and Balia were the worst hit villages.
Four villages in Purbadhala Sadar sub-district — Dhala, Agia and Bhogla of Purbadhala sub-district bore the brunt.
Most people were home after celebrating the Bengali New Year’s day, Pahela Baishakh, with colorful parades.
“There has been a stream of injured people coming here. They have come with broken legs, hands or cuts in heads,” said Nazrul Islam Fakir, a doctor at state-run Netrokona Medical College Hospital. “We are getting doctors and medicines from the capital city.”
In Mymensingh, rescuers found eight bodies amid twisted tin roofs and trees, and an additional four died while hospitalized, said rural council member Delwar Hossain. The death toll could rise because some of the injured are in serious condition, Hossain said.
The Dhaka meteorology office said given the ferocity and speed, “we believe it was a tornado that forms on land suddenly and is impossible to forecast.”
Thousands of homeless people spent the night in open fields, witnesses said.
“I’ve lost all I had got,” said Parfullah Burman, a resident of hard-hit Gazaria village, standing on the debris of what had been his three tin-roof houses.
Amiruddin Akhand, a 70-year-old farmer in Samunipara village, had just finished his evening prayer when the disaster struck.
“As I left my prayer mat I heard a roaring sound and saw the roof of my house disappear in the darkness,” said Akhand, who was caring for his injured son.
“It looked like the world was coming to an end.” Reporters said almost nothing was left standing in the tornadoes’ paths.
Rescue workers were digging through piles of debris in devastated villages where many people were feared trapped in collapsed houses and under uprooted trees.
“Never before have I seen such a havoc,” said Bijoy, a 40-year-old government employee in Netrokona.
“I saw thick clouds covering the sky at around 7 p.m. and then heard a whistle-like sound. In a few minutes everything was destroyed,” he said.
“People were crying out for help in the darkness. Even brick-built houses were flattened, cycles flew in the air like toys and hundreds of acres of rice paddy were damaged,” one reporter said after visiting some of the villages. Government and private agencies have started sending food and other emergency supplies to the affected villages, officials said.
“The number of injured may cross 2,000 and at least half of them will need hospital treatment,” Abdul Kader, a Netrokona official, said by telephone.
“But resources in the hospitals are already stretched and they will find it hard to cope with more patients,” he said.
