Lightning in UP: Blitz of lightning strikes kills 76 across MP, UP and Rajasthan in 24 hours | India News
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While farm hands working in the fields accounted for most of the deaths in MP, the list of victims in Rajasthan included at least two people — a brother-sister duo from Amritsar — who were out sightseeing when they were fatally struck by bolts of lightning. In UP, the state government announced Rs 4 lakh as ex gratia to the families of each of the deceased. Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot released Rs 1.6 crore for distribution of relief to the kin of those killed and for treatment of the injured.
According to official data, 11 of the 12 deaths in Jaipur were at the popular Amer fort. A 12-year-old boy died at Chanda Ki Dhani, a hamlet on the outskirts of Jaipur. “Kota reported 4 deaths, Dholpur 3 and Jhalawar, Baran, Sawai Madhopur and Tonk districts one each. Eight people in Kota and six in Sawai Madhopur were injured,” Kalpana Agarwal, joint secretary of disaster management and relief, said.
Izhar Ali (23), one of the injured survivors in Jaipur, recalled taking out his cellphone exactly at 7.04pm to click a selfie atop the heritage watchtower in Amber when a flash of light, accompanied by an explosion, left him pulverised. Izhar said he managed to get up and looked for survivors. “We screamed for help, but no one could hear us from over the mountains,” he said.
Besides sending teams to comb the area, the police used a drone camera to search for anyone who might be trapped in the gorges nearby. MP’s worst-affected area on Sunday was Shivpuri district, where four people died. Among the 10 people killed in the Gwalior-Chambal region in the past 36 hours, there were two fatherson pairs, officials said. UP’s casualty list included 14 deaths in Prayagraj alone.
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