11.11.19

Cyclone Bulbul: Bulbul kills 9 in West Bengal

Nine people were killed and around 60,000 houses damaged in Bengal as Cyclone Bulbul left a trail of death and destruction in its wake as it veered towards Bangladesh and started losing steam.

Till evening, there were reports of 4.6 lakh people being affected across the state. The toll might rise, officials said. Eight fishermen who were on board the trawler MV Chandrani, which capsised off Mousuni island on the Bay of Bengal, are missing. Of the casualties confirmed, five were in North 24-Parganas district and one in East Midnapore’s Nandigram. One person died in a building collapse while trees uprooted by winds crushed other victims.

A father and son died in Hooghly of electrocution on Sunday and another was killed in a trawler capsise. The toll in Bengal since Saturday stands at 10.

The maximum damage was reported from South 24-Paragans.

Rescue efforts to trace the missing fishermen was abandoned on Sunday evening because of inclement weather and the remoteness of the location, said Kakdwip fishermen’s association secretary Bijan Maity. “The capsized trawlers have been spotted. The rescue effort will resume early on Monday,” said Maity.

State disaster relief minister Jawed Ahmed Khan said the 1.76 lakh people who were evacuated ahead of the landfall are slowly returning to their homes, but state-run schools will remain closed on Monday, too.

No comments: