India lightning strikes leave 56 dead

Lightning strikes kill more people in India than any other natural calamity, with an average of 2,000 deaths every year linked to lightning strikes since 2005.

Another 37 people were killed across Uttar Pradesh, Jharkand, and Madhya Pradesh states, according to figures compiled by local disaster management authorities.

Lightning strikes are common during India’s monsoon season, which runs from June to September but the toll in Bihar is unusually high. As per the official report received, in the Saran, Purnea, and Saharsa districts nine people have died (Three people each) due to the thunderstorm and heavy rain.

Bihar Disaster Management Minister Chandrasekhar told the media that the toll has increased to 56 with more reports and information pouring in from rural areas across the state.

In a major tragedy, 48 people were killed in lightning strikes in Bihar in the last 24 hours.

AT LEAST 28 people were killed in lightning strikes in the past 24 hours across Bihar as monsoon rain lashed the state.

The rains that started earlier this week were the first of this monsoon season. We have to keep working in the fields. “But we feel scared when we see so many clouds, so much electricity in the sky”, said a farmer near the city of Muzaffarpur in Bihar. In his opinion, the government needs to do more to help the countries struggling farms. “We’re prepared to do what they say”.

He said, ex-gratia of four lakh rupees will be paid to the next of the kin of deceased who killed in the lightning.