Rain, storms kill 15 in southeastern India

Fifteen people are killed and 45 injured as heavy rain and thunderstorms lash India's southeastern coast, causing houses, trees and electric poles to collapse.

Fifteen people were killed and 45 injured as heavy rain and thunderstorms lashed India's southeastern coast, causing houses, trees and electric poles to collapse, officials said on Friday.

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The casualties occurred during Thursday and Friday in Andhra Pradesh. The unseasonal downpour was triggered by a depression in the Bay of Bengal.

Most victims were trapped under the debris of houses or were hit by falling trees and electric poles, state disaster management official Preeti Sudan said.

Separately, five elephants were killed on Friday in West Bengal when they were struck by lightning in Buxar Tiger Reserve, 770 km northeast of Kolkata, authorities said.

"The depression in the Bay of Bengal is likely to cause showers in many parts of the state for two more days," the weather office in Andhra Pradesh said.