NEW DELHI, June 2, 2018 (BSS/XINHUA) – At least nine people have been
killed and 12 others injured in rain-related incidents in the eastern Indian
state of West Bengal, officials said Saturday.
“While five people died due to lightning strikes in the state’s Hooghly
and Birbhum districts in the past 24 hours, others died of wall collapses
triggered by heavy rains that have lashed the state since Thursday night,” a
disaster management official said.
“Those who sustained injuries due to lightning strikes are being treated
in various government hospitals across the state,” he added.
Some 21 people were killed and more than 12 others injured in
thunderstorms and lightning strikes in the eastern state of Bihar and the
southern state of Andhra Pradesh Thursday night. Some of those injured are in
serious condition.
Lightning and thunderstorms are common in India during the pre-monsoon
months of May and June.