Seventeen die in Bengal storm

Kolkata, Sep 21: At least 17 people were killed and more than 3,000 injured when a severe storm lashed two West Bengal districts at midnight.

Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta today said in all 13,500 houses were destroyed in the storm that affected 19 blocks of South 24 Parganas and East Midnapore districts.

He said the Government had sanctioned Rs 4.5 crore for relief and rehabilitation of the affected people.

According to official sources, altogether 15 people were killed in South 24 Parganas and two in East Midnapore as the storm ripped through the two districts affecting ten blocks in South 24 Parganas and nine in East Midnapore.

UNI