Cyclone Remal claims six lives in West Bengal

Six people were killed due to Cyclone Remal's impact, which brought heavy rain and high winds to India's West Bengal and several northeastern states. The cyclone, which made landfall between Sagar Island in Bengal and Khepupara in Bangladesh Sunday night, left a trail of destruction, including damaged homes, uprooted trees, and disrupted power lines.

Mohammad Sajib, 51, was killed when the cornice of a house in Entally collapsed on him. Gopal Barman, 47, and Tapasi Das, 53, died of electrocution in Panihati and Nungi, respectively. In the Sundarbans, 75-year-old Renuka Mandal was killed by a falling tree on Mousuni island.

In East Burdwan's Memari, Forde Singh and his son Tarun Singh died of electrocution while cutting down an uprooted banana tree.

According to an estimate by the state government, nearly 15,000 houses in 24 blocks and 79 municipal wards in the coastal areas were affected by the cyclone. “At least 14,941 houses were damaged, out of which 13,938 were partially affected, while 1,003 were destroyed,” said an official.

“The strong winds, which reached the speed of 135 km/hour, uprooted around 2,140 trees and 337 electric poles,” said an official.