Al Jazeera News :
Lightning and thunderstorms have killed 29 people and injured dozens of others in India’s eastern state of Bihar, disaster management officials said.
The deaths took place in villages across the districts of Jamui, Champaran, Vaishali and Samastipur on Sunday.
“Twenty-six people died due to being struck by the lightening and six more causalities occurred due to the collapsing of walls and homes,”Anirudh Kumar, of Bihar’s Disaster Management Authority, told Al Jazeera.
Kumar said that the fierce winds and uprooted trees damaged about 250 homes in the ten districts of Bihar, according to a preliminary assessment. The victims were mainly farmers and homeless people, he added. The wounded were given medical treatment at hospitals and were discharged, Kumar said. Strong winds also damaged crops and property, as state agencies were assessing the damage, he added.
The storm occurred during the height of summer in India, which has seen soaring temperatures across many states ahead of the monsoon season. The region was hit by similar storms earlier this month, claiming 22 lives.
Kumar said that a warning about possible thunderstorms in Bihar has been issued in 38 Districts on Monday and that the people have been advised to protect themselves inside safe shelters.
“The six additional causalities occurred because people left their homes for work despite warnings. There is still a possibility of thunderstorms and lightening,” the official said, adding that the electricity has been disrupted due to uprooted trees falling on power cables. “We are trying to reach out to people and make them aware”.
In similar fierce storms in April 2015, 56 people lost their lives. Kumar said that the winds in Bihar are common from April 20 to June 30 until the monsoon starts.
The state government in Bihar has ordered the compensation of almost $6,200 for the kins of the persons killed in the storms and also ordered a small amount of compensation for the farmers who lost their crops.
Lightning and thunderstorms have killed 29 people and injured dozens of others in India’s eastern state of Bihar, disaster management officials said.
The deaths took place in villages across the districts of Jamui, Champaran, Vaishali and Samastipur on Sunday.
“Twenty-six people died due to being struck by the lightening and six more causalities occurred due to the collapsing of walls and homes,”Anirudh Kumar, of Bihar’s Disaster Management Authority, told Al Jazeera.
Kumar said that the fierce winds and uprooted trees damaged about 250 homes in the ten districts of Bihar, according to a preliminary assessment. The victims were mainly farmers and homeless people, he added. The wounded were given medical treatment at hospitals and were discharged, Kumar said. Strong winds also damaged crops and property, as state agencies were assessing the damage, he added.
The storm occurred during the height of summer in India, which has seen soaring temperatures across many states ahead of the monsoon season. The region was hit by similar storms earlier this month, claiming 22 lives.
Kumar said that a warning about possible thunderstorms in Bihar has been issued in 38 Districts on Monday and that the people have been advised to protect themselves inside safe shelters.
“The six additional causalities occurred because people left their homes for work despite warnings. There is still a possibility of thunderstorms and lightening,” the official said, adding that the electricity has been disrupted due to uprooted trees falling on power cables. “We are trying to reach out to people and make them aware”.
In similar fierce storms in April 2015, 56 people lost their lives. Kumar said that the winds in Bihar are common from April 20 to June 30 until the monsoon starts.
The state government in Bihar has ordered the compensation of almost $6,200 for the kins of the persons killed in the storms and also ordered a small amount of compensation for the farmers who lost their crops.
