LIGHTNING KILLS AT LEAST 70 IN ONE DAY AS STORMS HIT INDIA

▶ Weather experts blame climate change for the unusual strikes during monsoon season

At least 70 people have been killed in lightning strikes in India as heavy thunderstorms batter several states.

Those killed in the strikes on Sunday included farmers, pedestrians and tourists taking selfies at a historic fort in the north-east of Rajasthan state.

At least 11 people were killed and a dozen injured when lightning struck them as they took selfies on top of a watchtower at the 12th century Amer Fort in Jaipur.

Police said most of the group were residents of the area who climbed the tower to gain a bird’s-eye view of the city during the thunderstorm.

Emergency workers rushed to the site and found many people lying unconscious with burns.

“They were tourists who were visiting the fort,” Antar Singh Nehra, a senior civil officer, told The National.

“Two siblings had come from Punjab state. They were enjoying rains at the watchtower when the lightning struck them at around 6pm.

“They were mostly young people. The injured were taken to hospitals and are undergoing treatment.”

Police said nine more people were killed by lightning in the state, including four children who were tending to livestock.

Lightning strikes are common in the region between April and June, but experts say they are rare in July, during the annual monsoon season.

Large parts of western and northern India, including the capital New Delhi, continue to face intense heat after a weekslong delay to the rainy season.

Police in Uttar Pradesh said at least 41 people were killed by lightning on Sunday. Another seven were killed in central Madhya Pradesh state.

Fourteen of the dead came from Prayagraj district in Uttar Pradesh.

“Six people were planting seedlings for their rice crop, and two children were shepherds who were out grazing their cattle,” a police officer in Prayagraj told The National.

“Some had taken shelter under a tree when the lightning struck, but they died.”

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi mourned the losses and said financial aid would be sent to the families of those who died in the storms.

Lightning strikes kill more than 2,000 people a year in India, accounting for nearly 42,500 deaths between 2001 and 2018, government data showed.

Last year, 120 people were killed in a single day. In 2018, the southern state of Andhra Pradesh recorded 36,749 lightning strikes in 13 hours.

While authorities can forecast lightning and thunderstorms, there is a lack of public awareness about the dangers they pose.

The government has launched the Lightning-Resilient India Campaign to help reduce the number of deaths.

Mahesh Palawat, vice president of private weather forecaster Skymet, said climate change was also a factor in the frequency of storms.

“In July lightning is very rare, but we will continue witnessing this because of climate change,” he said.

Lightning strikes kill more than 2,000 people a year in India, accounting for 42,500 deaths between 2001 and 2018