Eight Dead, 50 Injured as Tornado Rips Kendrapada in Orissa

Reports coming in from Orissa say that a violent tornado has hit the Kendrapada area of the state killing eight and injuring another 50.

Some people in the affected area put the number of dead at as high as 20, but the claims could not be ascertained.

The Rajkanika area was the worst affected by the tornado which was followed by violent hailstorm.

Some 300 houses have been razed to the ground in the area and several children are also feared to be among the dead.

Key district officials are reported to be on their way to he area, but are yet to reach the affected villages due to inclement weather.

The injured have been admitted to the hospitals at Rajkanika and Ali.

Worst Tornados in India

April 19, 1963
A tornado in northwest Assam killed 139 people and left 3,760 families homeless in 33 villages along a 22-mile-long path.

March 17-18, 1978
In the northern suburbs of New Delhi, near the University, 28 people were killed and 700 were injured by a tornado that cut a path 3 miles long and 50 yards wide.

April 10, 1978
About 150 people died in a tornado in the Orissa District, mostly in the villages of Purunabandha and Keonjhargarh.

10 April, 1993
Scores of people were killed when a tornado struck the eastern Indian state of West Benga, razing five villages to the ground.

24 March, 1998
A violent tornado or tornadoes killed 160 people and injured 2000 when it tracked through 20 coastal villages in the eastern states of West Bengal and Orissa.

The tornadoes flattened some 15,000 homes and left more than 10,000 people homeless.

(This is a breaking news update, pl. check back for a more detailed report)