20 dead, 200 hurt in Bangladesh storm

Bangladeshi firefighters work to douse a fire after protesters set alight two coaches of a train parked at Dhaka’s main railway station in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, March 4, 2013. Activists from Bangladesh’s largest Islamic party clashed with security forces for a fifth day Monday during a nationwide strike called to denounce a war crimes trials, leaving at least three people dead and dozens injured, police and media reports said. AP

DHAKA, Bangladesh— The death toll from a tornado that ripped through 20 villages in eastern Bangladesh has climbed to 20 people, with another 200 hurt, a government official said Saturday.

Initial reports said at least 10 people were killed and a newspaper put the toll for the injured at 500 in the storm that lashed the distant villages in Brahmanbaria district on Friday.

On Saturday, local chief government administrator Noor Mohammad Majumder said the death toll had climbed to 20 people died, with another 200 injured in the powerful storm.

The local Prothom Alo newspaper reported that the 15-minute storm destroyed many homes and shops, and toppled a large number of trees and electricity poles.

Villagers and emergency personnel took the injured to hospitals, the reports said.