Boy killed in Bijli strike on Ctg coast

A boy, 9, was killed and sister injured in Cox's Bazar as cyclone Bijli, blowing strong winds of up to 100 kph and heavy rain, bore down on the southeastern coastline Friday night. Pekua Upazila Nirbahi Officer Humayun Kabir said a tree fell on Abdur Rahim, killing him on the spot and wounding his sister Jamila Khatun, 12. The storm was losing strength gradually after making landfall as it passes the Chittagong region toward the eastern Indian state of Tripura, Met officials said.

Dhaka, Apr 17 (bdnews24.com)—A boy, 9, was killed and sister injured in Cox's Baza as cyclone Bijli, blowing strong winds of up to 100 kph and heavy rain, bore down on the Chittagong-Cox's Bazaar coastline Friday night.

Pekua Upazila Nirbahi Officer Humayun Kabir said a tree fell on Abdur Rahim of east Jaliapara, killing him on the spot and wounding his sister Jamila Khatun, 12, in Bijli strike.

The storm was losing strength gradually after making landfall as it passes the Chittagong region toward the eastern Indian state of Tripura, Met officials said.

Early reports from correspondents say the storm, the first of the cyclone season, damaged thousands of thatched houses and great swathe of croplands, uprooted trees, and knocked off power and telephone poles.

Parts of resort district of Cox's Bazar and port city Chittagong were without power and telecommunications.

Authorities had shut Chittagong sea and air ports, evacuated hundreds of thousands of people from coastline and put emergency services on stand-by.

Roaring in from the Bay of Bengal, the storm triggered high waves and a tidal surge which reached up to three metres above the normal tide.

More than 200,000 people had been evacuated to shelters in the Chittagong and Cox's Bazar districts, bdnews24.com correspondents quoting local officials said.

Heavy rain and gusts swept Cox's Bazar town.

The storm also swept over several offshore islands, and many fishing boats may have been caught in the rough seas while returning to shore, Cox's Bazar officials told reporters. The officials immediately could not give details.

The met officials said the storm moved northeastwards further and started crossing Chittagong-Cox's Bazar coast by 7:30pm.

They had said it might take another 4-6 hours to complete crossing the coast.

Authorities had earlier raised danger signal 7 for busy Chittagong port, asked fishing boats to rush back to shore and put Red Crescent volunteers and law-enforcers on alert for any emergency, including a possible tidal surge, as the storm was forecast to hit the Chittagong-Cox's Bazar coastline by midnight.

Cox's Bazaar and Mongla ports had been asked to keep hoisted danger signal 6 and 5, respectively, the Meteorological Department said in a special bulletin.

Storms are graded with signals ranging from 1 to 10, and authorities start major preparations when the signal is raised to five or beyond.

Its peripheral gusty winds have already been experienced in the coastal districts of Cox's Bazar, Noakhali, Feni, Laxmipur and Bhola

Coastal districts have been experiencing medium to heavy rain since Thursday night, local officials and correspondents said.

The change in weather provided people in Dhaka and elsewhere the much-needed respite from heat and humid condition by bringing rain, an overcast sky and cool breeze.

The low-lying areas of these coastal districts and their offshore islands and chars were forecast to be inundated by a storm surge 7-10 feet above the height of normal tide.

Cyclone Sidr battered part of the shore in Nov 2007, killing around 3,000 people and damaging huge crops and property. A devastating cyclone in Apr 1991 claimed lives of nearly 140,000 people.

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