Lightning kills 76 people in India at the start of the monsoon | India

Lightning killed at least 76 people in India at the start of the annual monsoon, officials said.

Deadly lightning bolts are common across the vast Asian nation during the June to September Flood, which provide a respite from the summer heat in the plains of northern India.

Of the 76 killed, at least 23 people died in the largely desert state of Rajasthan, including a dozen who watched the storm sweep through Jaipur city from watchtowers near the famous 12th-century Amer Fort on Sunday evening. an official from the state disaster department told AFP. .

It was already raining when people were there. They huddled in the towers as the rain intensified, said Saurabh Tiwari, a senior police officer in Jaipur.

He said up to 30 people were on the towers when lightning struck. Emergency teams were checking to see if any casualties fell into a deep ditch on one side of the towers.

Some of the injured lost consciousness as a result of the strikes. Others fled in panic and in extreme pain, he added.

Officials told local media that some of those killed were taking selfies during the storm.

Every year, tens of thousands of tourists visit Amer Fort, a medieval hilltop complex outside of Jaipur, also known as Amber Fort.

People had flocked to the fort, which gives a panoramic view of the tourist city of Jaipur, after several weeks of intense heat in the state.

In neighboring Uttar Pradesh, at least 42 people were killed in lightning strikes on Saturday and Sunday, officials said. They did not give further details on where they were killed.

Eleven other people died in the central state of Madhya Pradesh over the weekend, an official at the state’s disaster control room told AFP.

Two of them, who had taken their camels and sheep to graze, were sheltering under a tree when they were struck by lightning, the official said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the families of the victims would be offered compensation.

Last month, 27 people were killed and four flight passengers were admitted to hospital after severe turbulence during monsoon storms in the eastern state of West Bengal.

Nearly 2,900 people were killed by lightning strikes in India in 2019, according to the most recent figures available from the National Crime Records Bureau.

The monsoon is crucial for replenishing water supplies in South Asia, but it also causes widespread death and destruction in the region every year.