At least 107 people were killed by lightning in northern and eastern India, authorities said, during the early stages of the annual monsoon season.
Some 83 people were killed in the impoverished eastern state of Bihar after being struck by lightning, and another 24 died in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. Dozens more were injured, authorities said.
Lightning strikes during the annual monsoon from June to September are quite common in India. But Bihar’s disaster management minister Lakshmeshwar Rai said this was one of the highest daily lightning tolls the state had recorded in recent years.
He added that more than half of the deaths were in the northern and eastern districts of Bihar, prone to flooding. Rai warned that the death toll could rise further as his government was still awaiting reports of victims from the interior parts of the state.
Heavy rains are forecast to hit Bihar on Friday and Saturday, according to the local office of the Indian Department of Meteorology.
In neighboring Uttar Pradesh, most deaths were reported in the Deoria district, near the border with Nepal, and in the holy city of Prayagraj, authorities said.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted his condolences to the victims’ families, adding that both state governments were carrying out urgent aid work.
More than 2,300 people were killed by lightning in India in 2018 according to the National Crime Records Office, the latest figures available.
The monsoon is crucial for replenishing water supplies in South Asia, but it also causes widespread death and destruction in the region each year.
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