Seventeen people were killed and hundreds injured in the season's first nor'wester, which lashed south Bengal on Wednesday night.

In Bankura district, where extensive hailstorm was reported, three persons were killed and more than 500 hurt, District Magistrate G A Khan said.

Some of the hailstones weighed around 1.5-2kg.

The 80kmph hailstorm left a trail of destruction, flattening mud houses, destroying crops and uprooting trees, electric poles and telephone posts.

The administration rushed in tarpaulins, food and a medical team, Khan said.

In Hooghly district, nine were killed and 20 injured, some of them seriously, when a big tree fell near the Alipur Primary School in Chanditala police station area, police said.

Lightening killed four in Chanditala, the police said.

A rickshawpuller was electrocuted in Howrah district, the police said.