PATNA
The death toll due to thunderstorm and lightning in Bihar increased to 95 early on Friday amid warning of heavy rainfall in several districts.
On Thursday, the state’s disaster management department had put the death toll at 83.
According to a statement put out by the department, deaths in lighting strikes took place in 24 of the total 32 districts in the state, with Gopalganj accounting for the maximum number of casualties (13). Ten persons in the district were injured, of which three were referred to a hospital in Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh) in a critical condition.
In Khagaria, locals blocked National Highway 107 for two hours and disrupted vehicular traffic to press their demand for compensation for their cattle killed due to lightning. Over 60 cattle died in lightning in the district.
According to the DMD, more than 200 people have died due to thunderstorms and lightning in the state since March this year.
Reports from districts said more than 40 people were injured and admitted to hospitals. The lightning has also caused widespread damage to houses.
Most of the victims were farmers working in their fields when the lightning stuck.
{{/usCountry}}Most of the victims were farmers working in their fields when the lightning stuck.
{{/usCountry}}“In peak summer, when rain comes in contact with the baking earth, heat is transferred and lighting strikes begin within half an hour to three hours,” said a weather expert.