Power outage hits different city areas as people suffer in gridlock for hours
Six people were killed after a nor’wester coupled with hailstorm and rain swept Dhaka city on Sunday evening.
The tropical storm, the first of the season, hit the capital around 6:15pm, according to the Met Office.
A 45-year-old tea-stall owner named Md Hanif was killed when a brick from a under construction building fell on his head in Purana Paltan area.
Paltan police station Sub-Inspector (SI) Md Sujan rushed Hanif to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), where he died around 7:50pm.
Hanif lived in Mugdapara area with his two children.
In Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, a woman — aged around 45 years — was killed after a tree fell on her on the Lake Road near the parliament complex.
Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Jan-e-Alam Munshi said the deceased was identified at Lily D’Costa.
Her body was later sent to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital, he added.
In Mirpur’s West Shewrapara, a man died after bricks from a nearby building fell on him during gusty winds, police said.
The victim was identified as 40-year-old Dulal, who used to work as a driver, said SI Ashiqur Rahman of Mirpur model police station.
A rickshaw-puller, Hasan, 40, died when a wall collapsed on him at Kadamtali’s Palashpur, said Kadamtali police station SI Saidul Islam.
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A woman and her five-year-old son drowned when a boat capsized in the Buriganga River during the storm, according to Keraniganj model police station SI Md Rasel Mollah.
They were identified as Rima Akter, 28, and her son Md Ali.
The boat sank near the Madaripur pier at Keraniganj on its way to Kamrangirchar, Rasel added.
A wind speed of 74kmph and 17mm of rain were recorded during the 20-minute storm, said Meteorologist Bazlur Rashid.
The sudden thunderstorm on Sunday evening also caused widespread traffic gridlock in Dhaka, inflicting sufferings on those returning home from their offices.
Many city areas, including Dhanmondi, Lalbagh, Azimpur, Moghbazar, and Matuail, were submerged in darkness when the storm caused widespread power outage.
The gusty wind also uprooted trees and utility poles and blew away billboards in different areas of the capital, including Minto Road, Paltan, Tejgaon and Dhaka University.
Meanwhile, a portion of a wall at Ad-din Hospital in Dhaka’s Moghbazar collapsed during the sudden thundershower.
Mizanur Rahman, duty officer at Fire Service and Civil Defence control room, said the wall collapsed due to stormy wind around 6:40pm on Sunday. However, there were no casualties.
The hospital’s security official Bashir told the Dhaka Tribune: “The ceiling fan at the nurses’ station in the children ward had fallen down due to the gusty winds. But no one was injured.”
He said members of Fire Service’s Tejgaon branch responded quickly and assessed the whole situation following their arrival. “This was a minor incident and they have left as everything is under control.”
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Ferry services on the Paturia-Daulatdia route on Padma River resumed in the evening, after a one-and-a-half-hour halt due to the sudden nor’wester.
Zillur Rahman, assistant general manager of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation, said only the ferry services were restored around 7pm and the launch service would resume on Monday morning.
Earlier, the authorities suspended the water transport services on the route from 5:40pm due to stormy weather, leaving 16 ferries and around 400 vehicles stuck on both sides of the river.
The latest Met Office bulletin said that rain/thundershowers accompanied by temporary gusty/squally wind is likely to occur at many places over Rangpur, Mymensingh, Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet divisions, and at a few places over Khulna, Barisal and Rajshahi divisions with hails at isolated places.
Rain or thundershowers may continue for the subsequent two days.
Source: Dhaka Tribune.