Bangkok (AP): Seven people, including four children, died Monday when strong winds from a rainstorm caused a metal roof on a school's activity center to collapse in northern Thailand, officials said Tuesday.

The latest casualty was a 6-year-old boy who died late Monday night in a hospital after the collapse at the Wat Nern Por primary school, according to the public relations office in Phichit province, 300 kilometers (185 miles) north of Bangkok.

Several students had gone inside the activity center to shelter from the rain when the roof collapsed, according to a Facebook post from the official disaster prevention department, and 18 people were hospitalized.

Patcharin Siri, a staff member of the provincial Public Relations Department, said four boys, two parents and one member of the school's cleaning staff died.

The meteorological department issued a warning for heavy rain in northern Thailand this week. Monday was also the official start of the rainy season. 

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Kolkata: Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly Suvendu Adhikari has sparked controversy after stating that Bangladesh should be taught a “lesson like Israel has taught Gaza.”

Adhikari made the remark while speaking to reporters outside the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata on Friday, December 26. “These people must be taught a lesson, just like Israel taught Gaza. Our 100 crore Hindus and the government working in the interest of Hindus must teach them a lesson just as we taught Pakistan a lesson in Operation Sindoor,” he said.

The statement came amid protests being held outside the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission since December 22, following the lynching of Dipu Chandra Das, a 27-year-old garment factory worker in Bangladesh. Das was killed on December 18 in the Mymensingh district, where his body was allegedly hung from a tree and set on fire in public view.

Adhikari was part of a five-member delegation that met senior officials of the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission on Friday. Speaking after the meeting, he claimed that the diplomats had “no answer to most of his questions” related to the killing and the situation of minorities in Bangladesh.

Reacting to his comments, the All India Trinamool Congress accused the BJP of promoting hate and intolerance. In a post on X, the party described Adhikari’s remarks as hate speech and alleged that they amounted to a call for violence, while also questioning the absence of legal action against him.

Adhikari’s statement has added to political tensions in West Bengal and raised concerns over inflammatory rhetoric linked to sensitive international and communal issues.