Nepal storm kills 27

KATHMANDU, Apr 01 (AFP): A freak storm tore down houses and overturned cars and trucks as it swept across southern Nepal killing at least 27 people and leaving more than 600 injured, officials said Monday as a major rescue operation gathered pace.

The rare spring storm battered the rural district of Bara and adjoining areas late Sunday with high winds. Five children were among the dead, the home ministry said, as rescuers battled to get relief supplies to the region and evacuate injured.

The winds were so fierce that they overturned a bus carrying passengers, witnesses said. Houses, trees and electricity pylons were all toppled in the storm.

Injured victims flocked to local hospitals who were unable to cope and at least seven people were airlifted to Kathmandu for treatment.

"We were in a shop when the wind started to pick up," Jay Prakash Das, a Bara resident, told AFP.

"It suddenly became stronger and we saw people running to shelter. We closed our shutter and stayed in. When it died down after a minute or two we opened the shutter to see everything flattened ... trees, houses everything.

He added: "We rushed out to help. A man had died right next to our building under a tree. People had fractured bones and many had head injuries."

"I've never seen anything like this. The winds took away everything, my home and my family," Ram Babu Patel, 45, whose wife was killed in the storm, told AFP by telephone.