Powerful storms kill at least 43 across northern India
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LUCKNOW, India — Powerful winds and rainstorms swept across a crowded swath of northern India, demolishing houses, uprooting trees and killing at least 43 people as the winds turned the skies brown with dust and sand, officials said Monday.
Most of the deaths occurred when wind and falling trees caused buildings to collapse, leaving people buried in the wreckage. In the town of Bareilly, the minaret of a mosque fell on a group of people taking shelter in a neighbouring courtyard, killing eight. In another town, one man was killed when he was hit by a billboard that had been blown loose. Along highways, large trucks were pushed over by the winds, crushing cars and motorcycles beneath them.
Less than two weeks ago, similar storms caused 134 deaths and injured another 400. The extreme weather comes amid withering summer heat, and approaching monsoon rains.
“These storms are not unusual at this time of the year,” said J.P. Gupta, the meteorological office director for Uttar Pradesh state. “But the wind speed this year is a bit abnormal.”
