116 killed as dust storms strike India

LIGHTNING strikes and powerful dust storms across India have killed at least 116 people and injured more than 250 as meteorologists warned yesterday of more wild weather on the horizon.

Dust clouds plunged swaths of north India into darkness as winds of more than 130 kilometers per hour brought down mud houses and killed people where they slept.

Walls, trees and electricity pylons were torn down in parts of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Punjab states where officials said the death toll was expected to rise.

The destructive winds were followed by fierce lightning storms and rains.

Similar storms kill hundreds of people each year in India but these were some of the most severe in recent decades.

Shivam Lohia, who owns a resort hotel in Alwar district of Rajasthan, said he abandoned his car on the road and ran for his life after it was almost blown away.

“I haven’t seen such a devastating storm in at least 25 years,” he said. “It was a nightmare.”

There were 65 confirmed deaths in Uttar Pradesh in the north, 35 in the desert state of Rajasthan to the west, and two in Punjab from Wednesday’s wild storms.

The day before, at least 14 were killed in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, which was hammered by more than 41,000 lightning strikes in a matter of hours, disaster officials said yesterday.

Agra district of Uttar Pradesh was one of the worst hit by the dust clouds, with more than 40 killed. The Taj Mahal is in Agra city but officials said the monument escaped damage.

Last month, a similar storm killed at least 15 people in Uttar Pradesh and destroyed two minarets over an entry house to the Taj Mahal.

Most of the victims were killed as they slept by houses that collapsed or by falling walls, trees and electric pylons, officials said. Many people in India sleep outside during the summer months to escape the high temperatures.

The India Meteorological Department warned there would be more storms over a wider area today and tomorrow.

Three districts in Rajasthan, a state popular with tourists for its heritage palaces and colorful culture, were hit the hardest on Wednesday.

Weather officials in New Delhi said the storm was caused by a collision of rival eastern and western weather systems over the humid northern plains. “Condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.