Jaipur, India: At least 11 killed in lightning strike near tourist area

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Lightning struck Amer Fort on the outskirts of the city, according to Shankar Lal Saini, a senior disaster management official in Jaipur.

“There was a tower there. When lightning struck, the wall of the tower collapsed, and many people were buried under it. Because the fort was on a hill, when the debris was falling and the space was shrinking, some people also fell into a pit,” Saini told CNN.

The accident occurred at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, and police and civil defense officials carried out rescue operations until 7 a.m. Monday, according to Saini.

Among the 11 bodies found were women and children. The victims were pronounced dead upon arrival at the city’s Sawai Man Singh Hospital.

Saini said another 11 people were rescued and are in stable condition. He added that those present in the castle include local residents as well as tourists.

“Because it is a mountainous area and there are a lot of trees, the rescue teams were looking for it until morning in case anyone was left behind, but now the fate of all the people has been decided,” Saini said.

Several people were also killed in lightning strikes in other parts of Rajasthan, according to Chief Minister Ashok Jahlot. He asked officials to provide immediate assistance to the families of the dead in a tweet on Sunday.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences via Twitter.

“Many people have lost their lives due to lightning in some areas of Rajasthan. This has hurt a lot. I express my deepest condolences to the families of the dead: PMnarendramodi,” the Prime Minister’s office wrote on Twitter on Monday morning.

Lightning deaths are common in India and the South Asian region in May and June each year.

There were 2,885 deaths attributed to lightning in 2017 and 2,357 in 2018, according to India’s National Crime Records Bureau.

In June 2020, at least 107 people were killed in lightning strikes in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in just two days.

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