Lightning killed at least 76 people in northern India, some of whom were taking selfies

Arab weather - Indian authorities said that at least 76 people were killed in lightning strikes and thunderstorms in the states of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh in northern India, during the early stages of the annual monsoon season (Monsoon).

In Jaipur, Rajasthan, 23 people died on Sunday after lightning struck a watchtower in Amber Fort, a popular tourist site on the outskirts of the city. Officials told local media that some of the dead took selfies during the storm.

(Amer Fort or Amber Fort on the outskirts of Jaipur in the Indian state of Rajasthan)

According to Shankar Lal Saini, a Jaipur disaster management official: "When the lightning struck, the wall of the tower collapsed, and many people were buried under it. As the fort is on a hill, when the debris was falling and the space shrank, some people also fell into a pit,"

The accident happened at 6:30 pm. Rescue operations continued, Sunday, until seven o'clock on Monday morning, according to Saini. Among the bodies that were found were women and children. The victims were pronounced dead upon arrival at the city's Sawai Man Singh Hospital.

"I feel pain all over my body because of falling stones and honeybee nests," said Izhar Ali, 22, who survived the strike and is being treated at a hospital in Jaipur on Tuesday.

Ali went with his younger brother, cousin and some friends to the site, and climbed the watchtower to take a picture, but the wind and rain were so strong that they decided to sit back and wait for it.

“I had my phone in my hand and I remember seeing the time, it was 7:04 pm when the lightning struck,” Ali said. His brother slipped and nearly fell off the tower, and when the group led him to safety, one of Ali's friends was struck by lightning who died.

Lightning also killed several people in other parts of Rajasthan. In neighboring Uttar Pradesh, 42 people were killed in lightning and thunderstorm-related accidents, according to state disaster management official Aditi Omrao.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday expressed his condolences on Twitter and announced that the government will award $2,680 in compensation to the families of the victims, and $670 will be given to those who survived the strikes and were injured.

Lightning kills dozens in India every year

Lightning deaths are common in India and South Asia each year in May and June, when the region is affected by the monsoons. The monsoons are essential to replenish the water supply in South Asia, but they also cause widespread death and destruction across the region each year. .

There were 2,885 deaths in India due to lightning in 2017, 2,357 in 2018, and in June 2020, at least 107 people died in lightning strikes in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in just two days.