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Tezpur, March 11: Two young brothers and a woman died in a heavy storm that lashed North Bank districts this afternoon, damaging electricity poles, houses and trees.
The young brothers, Sariful Islam, 11, and Siraj Ali, 12, died when lightning struck their thatched house in the Bhakatpara area under Mangoldoi police station in Darrang district, around 100km from here, around 2.45 pm. A part of the house was badly damaged.
Surabala Roy, 35, died at Balipara, 25km from here, when a “very old” tree fell on the Tata Magic vehicle she was travelling in along with 17 other passengers, of whom two — Harichandra Das and Anjana Saikia — were injured. They were admitted to Kanaklata civil hospital and are said to be out of danger. Two electricity poles were damaged near Tezpur University near Napam, 15km from here. Power lines snapped in Bhairab Nagar, Gutlung , Basantipur, Ketekibari and Mazgaon under Tezpur police station, affecting power supply in the areas. Several houses and a Kali temple were damaged in Bandarmari’s Juglabasti, 18km from here. Houses were damaged in the Bihaguri and Khelmati near here as well. The storm reached Lakhimpur and Dhemaji districts around 5pm, disrupting power supply. Shoppers and shopkeepers fled for their homes soon after the storm struck.
The storm, lasting for around 20 minutes in Tezpur, was followed by moderate rainfall, sharply bringing down the temperature. It was very intense in Dhekiajuli in Sonitpur district, 35km from here, and Mangaldoi, where it seems to have started.
In Jorhat, one person was killed while several houses were damaged in the riverine areas this evening as the dust storm swept the Upper Assam districts.
Tikha Ao, 61, who was travelling in a Maruti Gypsy from Mokokchung district of Nagaland was killed near Chutaphala checkgate on the Assam-Nagaland border in Jorhat district after his vehicle skidded off the road and fell into a gorge. District administration sources said several thatched houses along the Brahmaputra were damaged by the storm.
In Sivasagar district, many temporary shops set up at the fair organised near a Shiva temple were damaged.
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