At least 69 people were killed this week in unusually intense thunderstorms across eastern India’s Bihar state and in neighbouring Nepal, officials said.
While flash floods and lightning kill thousands of people each year, scientists warn that rising global temperatures are unleashing a cascade of extreme weather events.
Bihar disaster authorities said yesterday that at least 61 people had died in strong thunder and lightning storms on Thursday and Friday.
Eight more people were killed in neighbouring Nepal, officials said, blaming “lightning strikes” on Wednesday and Thursday.
Last year, experts warned that climate change was fuelling an alarming increase in deadly lightning strikes in India, killing nearly 1,900 people a year in the world’s most populous country. — AFP
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