NEW DELHI, June 3: The death toll from lightning strikes and powerful storms rose to 105 on Saturday as annual summer monsoon rains tore through India earlier than usual, authorities said.
Twenty-two people died in the past two days in western Maharashtra state, in addition to the 19 killed since the beginning of this week, the Press Trust of India (PTI) said, citing officials.
This year’s weather has brought back memories of floods in July 2005 when hundreds of people perished in Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra.
Another six people were killed by lightning Friday afternoon while two more died the previous night in eastern Jharkhand state.
A total of 32 deaths have been reported in northern Uttar Pradesh state since May 18 when the monsoon hit India’s Andaman archipelago and then swirled up the west coast states of Kerala, Maharashtra and Gujarat.
So far, 12 deaths have been reported from western Gujarat, nine from eastern West Bengal and three from coastal Kerala.
India’s far-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, meanwhile, has sounded a flood alert after 478 millimetres of rain fell in two districts, PTI reported.—AFP
