Lucknow/Jaipur: A powerful storm, accompanied by strong winds and heavy rain, barrelled through a wide swathe of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan on Wednesday night, killing at least 106 people in a trail of destruction that brought down mud houses, uprooted trees and flattened crops, officials said on Thursday.
At least 183 others were injured as a massive duststorm, followed by thundershowers, snapped power lines and sent tin roofs and street hoardings flying in parts of eastern Rajasthan and adjoining areas of Uttar Pradesh.
In western Uttar Pradesh, which saw 70 deaths, Agra was the worst affected, with 43 deaths reported from various parts of the district. The other storm-hit UP districts were Bijnor, Bareli, Saharanpur, Pilibhit, Firozabad, Chitrakoot, Muzaffarnagar, Rae Bareli and Unnao. In Rajasthan, 36 persons died and another 100 people were injured as winds of over 100 kmph hit the region at around 7 pm.
The worst period lasted about 45 minutes, according to reports from Dholpur in Rajasthan. But the extent of the damage was known only on Thursday morning. In Rajasthan, Bharatpur district was the worst affected, with 19 deaths. The India Meterological Department (IMD) has warned of severe thunderstorms in 32 districts of Uttar Pradesh over the next 48 hours.
