At least 96 people were killed after an unseasonal violent storm hit the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh with heavy rain, hail and lightning on Wednesday, officials said.
The storm swept through five districts, uprooting trees and billboards and sending them crashing into cars. It also disrupted mobile networks in many areas, hampering rescue and relief work and making it difficult for officials to do a full assessment of the damage.
Officials initially gave a death toll of 89 “killed because of the storm, lightning and rain-related incidents” before increasing the figure to 96, with more than 50 other people injured. An official told Reuters that many of the deaths were caused by falling trees and collapsing walls of homes.
Narendra N Srivastava, an administrative official, said emergency teams were deployed across the affected areas and that homes, crops and power infrastructure were widely damaged, particularly in rural districts.
In Prayagraj district, residents described panic as strong winds tore through neighbourhoods.
“The storm came suddenly and the sky turned completely dark within minutes,” Ram Kishore told The Associated Press. “Tin roofs were flying and people ran indoors. We could hear trees falling throughout the evening.”
Strong storm and heavy rain hit several districts of Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday. Sadly, at least 33 people lost their lives. Chief Minister has ordered relief work and compensation for affected families. #UP_Storm pic.twitter.com/LafBxoD2y2
In Bhadohi district, which was hit the hardest, at least 16 people died in separate incidents and six were injured, two of them seriously, local police said.
Savitri Devi, a resident of the village, said that her family narrowly escaped after strong winds damaged their mud house.
“We rushed outside when the walls started shaking because of the wind. Our roof collapsed moments later. We spent the night at a relative’s house," she said.
In Fatehpur, nine people were killed and 16 injured. Additional district magistrate Avinash Tripathi said eight people, including five women, died in Khaga tehsil and the ninth victim, a woman, was killed when a house wall collapsed in Sadar tehsil.
In Budaun, five people were killed and as many injured. The dead included two young girls. Mausami, 10, and Rajni, 9, died after the mud wall of a hut they had taken shelter in collapsed. Two women who were with them in the hut were seriously injured.
In another incident in Tark Paroli village, a woman named Laxmi, 40, died after a tree fell on a tubewell room where several people had taken shelter, bringing down the roof.
Three people were injured, including a woman whose condition was described as critical. A truck driver died after an eucalyptus tree fell on his vehicle near Bisoli and a 22-year-old died after a tree fell on him as he was on his way to deliver food to his father.
In Sonbhadra, a man died after a tree fell on him when he stopped to shelter under it. In Chandauli, two people died in separate incidents of wall collapse and a tree falling.
Chief minister Adityanath directed district officials to reach affected areas and complete relief work within 24 hours, warning that negligence would not be tolerated. He also ordered compensation for losses and directed revenue and agriculture departments, alongside insurance companies, to survey damage and report to the government.
Uttar Pradesh, which at 240 million is home to more people than Brazil, is particularly vulnerable to violent pre-monsoon storms.
However, hailstorms of this intensity are unusual in mid-May, when the state is usually in the grip of peak summer heat, with temperatures often exceeding 40C and the monsoon still weeks away.
India has been enduring an intense heatwave this summer. One day in late April, the South Asian nation accounted for all of the world’s 50 hottest cities.
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