Lightning strikes kill 20 in India

Officials say 20 people have died from lightning strikes across eight districts of the eastern Indian state of Bihar in just 24 hours.

More thunderstorm with lightning has been forecast in northern parts of the state for Wednesday and Thursday.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has asked people to closely follow the advice by the state’s disaster management authority.

Lightning incidents are common in India during the monsoon season. Hundreds die every year as a result of strikes from lightning.

One of the reasons cited for the high number of deaths is the large number of people working outdoors in India compared to other parts of the world, which makes them more vulnerable.

Compensation

On Tuesday, Mr. Kumar announced a compensation of 400,00 rupees ($5,008; £4,154) for the families of each of the deceased.

Reports say the chief minister held a meeting last week and asked state officials to install lightning arresters at all government buildings, including schools and hospitals.

Frequent lightning strikes

The geographical position of the state makes it particularly susceptible to frequent lightning strikes during the monsoons, the report said.

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Satellite data gathered by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology shows that strikes had “increased rapidly” between 1995 and 2014.

India recorded more than 18 million lightning strikes between April 2020 and March 2021, according to a study by the non-profit Climate Resilient Observing Systems Promotion Council. This was a 34% rise over a similar period during the previous year.

Zainab Sa’id