At least seven people were killed and as many injured when a severe rainstorm accompanied by lightning lashed the city and several adjoining districts in southern Bengal on Wednesday.
The rainstorm also uprooted trees and power poles besides overhead railway hi-tension wires, officials said.
Four fish traders  in a north Kolkata market died instantaneously when lighting struck them early morning, police said. The concrete wall of the market at Kestopur developed cracks following the lightning.
Another person was killed in Park Circus area when he suffered a lightning hit while walking down a lane.   Meanwhile, two pedestrians were electrocuted at Sradhananda Park in central Kolkata as they came into contact with livewire that lay submerged in the water.
Heavy pre-monsoon showers that continued for nearly two hours at a stretch since morning, flooded most parts of the city. According to police, one of the victims who rushed to rescue the other without realising the danger, failed to extricate himself.  
Tornado
A ten-minute tornado that lashed Jagatballavpur in Howrah district in the morning, left a trail of devastation, reports reaching here said. Six persons working in the field suffered injuries as they tried to rush back home, but were hit by falling trees.