Tornado kills kid

A tornado lashed 22 villages of Moheshpur upazila yesterday that left one child dead and about 150 people injured, two of them critically.
At least 1,200 houses and crops on over 1,300 bighas of land in Bashbaria and Kazirber unions of the upazila were damaged by the tornado that hit at 8:15 am and lasted for only one minute, local sources said.
The dead was identified as Sathi, 10, daughter of Saidur Rahman of Chunnirite village.
Condition of Saira Khatun, 30, wife of Abul Kalam of Kulbaria village and Kural Mondol, 30, son of Ershad Ali of Pakrail village, was stated to be critical, sources said.
Mahatab Sheikh, an elderly person of Pakrail village, said he has never seen such devastation caused by any tornado in his life. Many trees and houses and crops on vast tracts of land were damaged by it in the twinkling of an eye, he observed.
Maize on 300 bighas of land was completely damaged and over a thousand trees were uprooted during the tornado in Bashbaria Union, said Union Parishad Chairman Ali Hossain.
Kazirber UP Chairman Golam Kader said crops on over a thousand bighas of land of his union have been damaged.
Deputy Commissioner Roma Rani Roy of the district said she visited the tornado-hit areas and her administration has been distributing cash money and six tonnes of rice among the homeless people.
At least 150 people took first aid, the DC added.
Moheshpur Upazila Nirbahi Officer Oziur Rahman said the damage caused by the tornado might be worth around Tk 1.5 crore.
The affected villages are Bashbaria, Pakrail, Gopalpur, Kula, Samanta, Jibonnagar, Nischintapur, Gobindapur, Kutipara, Gopalpurmat para, Bhagabotipur, Mathabhanga para, Kulianpur, Islampur and Dipti Nagar of Bashbaria union and Mokordas, Chunnirite, Ruly, Bhola, Sundarpur and Darbeshnagar of Kazirber union.