At least 93 people have been killed and more than 20 injured over the past two days in the Indian states Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya, according to disaster management officials on Wednesday.
Most of the people who died were working on farms during heavy monsoon rains on Tuesday, reports said.
Lightning strikes are relatively common in India during the June-October monsoon, but this week's toll is particularly high.
Most deaths occurred in the northeastern state of Bihar, where at least 56 people were killed of an overnight storm while 37 people were dead across Uttar Pradesh, Jharkand and Madhya Pradesh, according to figures compiled by local disaster management authorities.
"The death toll has climbed to 56 and 28 are injured. Many of the victims are children and women," said Anirudh Kumar, senior official at Bihar's diaster management agency.
Lightning kills thousands of Indians every year, mostly farmers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he was "deeply anguished" by the loss of life.
In 2014, more than 2500 people were killed by lightning in India, according to National Crime Records Bureau.
Research published in the US Journal Science suggested that the rise in global average temperature will increase the number of lightning strikes worldwide by 12%.
Photo: CNN
Source: AFP BBC News
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