DHAKA, 22 March 2005 — Two tornadoes tore through northern Bangladesh, killing at least 38 people, injuring 700 and leaving thousands homeless, officials said yesterday.

The tornadoes struck almost simultaneously late Sunday, blowing away huts in dozens of farming villages in Gaibandha and Rangpur districts.

The twister accompanied by a hailstorm and wind gusts of 100 km per hour lashed the area late Sunday, police chief Bhanu Lal Das said.

More than 8,000 people were left homeless in the Sadullahpur sub-district and in adjoining Sundarganj, Das said.

“We are struggling to cope with hundreds of injured persons. More than 300 sought treatment in the 100-bed district hospital and 200 each in Sadullahpur and Sunderganj hospitals,” district Civil Surgeon Dr. Habibur Rahman said.

“The death figures could go up as we sent 70 critically injured persons to the regional hospital at Rangpur, more than 60 kilometers from here,” he added.

The storm damaged crops, uprooted trees and electricity poles and cut off communications to the 15 villages in one of the poorest parts of the country. Police were clearing roads of hundreds of fallen trees and debris so that rescue teams could reach Sadullahpur, where some 5,000 people were left homeless in three villages in which every single house was flattened, including those made of brick.

“We suspect more bodies are (buried beneath the debris) of the flattened houses,” Das said, adding that an ongoing downpour was hampering the search.

More than 200 injured people were rushed to various hospitals and clinics in Sadullahpur district, but hundreds of other injured were awaiting transport to ferry them to various medical facilities.

“There is hardly anyone who is not injured. No one is around to take the seriously injured persons to the hospitals or clear debris to recover bodies from the flattened houses,” said Abdul Hakim, police officer in charge of Sadullahpur. The death toll was increasing by the hour, he added.

The district administration had joined police in rescue and relief operations in the affected villages, district administrator Tapan Chandra Majumdar said.

A junior minister visited the affected villages early yesterday to oversee relief operations.

“We are distributing biscuits ... and giving tin sheets to the affected families to build homes,” said Asadul Habib Dulu, state minister for food and disaster management.

Survivors reached by telephone said the storm had left a trail of devastation in a 20 square km area, where people were homeless and hungry.

“In the affected villages the homeless people have been ... without food since last night,” said one survivor, Asaduzzaman Mamum.

Some relief had reached the villages but this was too little, Mamun added.

He said eight people were killed when the chimney of a brick kiln collapsed on them at Sadullahpur, adding: “There is no one to bury them.”

Tropical storms frequently hit Bangladesh during summer. Before Sunday’s storm, at least 20 people had died in five downpours in different districts since the beginning of the month.