Lightning Kills 22 People In India in a Single Day

Eric Chaney/Associated Press
Published: September 7,2015

Lightning killed 22 people in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh Sunday evening.
( PATRICK PLEUL/AFP/Getty Images)

Lightning killed at least 22 people in India over the weekend as thunderstorms swept over the eastern coastal state of Andhra Pradesh, reports the Associated Press. Other news outlets indicate that the death toll may be even higher.
The fatalities, which were mostly farm laborers working in fields, occurred Sunday evening, said N. Chandrababu Naidu, the state's chief minister.
Weather officials in the Andhra Pradesh state capital of Hyderabad said a low-pressure system over the Bay of Bengal led to heavy downpours. The India Meteorological Department reported Monday morning that at least two cities in the region saw more than 5 inches of rain and at least 5 other locations more than 3 inches.
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Two women's cricket teams had a narrow escape when lightning struck a tree on the grounds where they were playing in Guntur town, said Sitapati, a district cricket official. "It was a miraculous escape for the players and the people at the grounds," said Sitapati, who goes by one name.
A tree caught fire after it was hit by a lightning bolt, and the deafening sound that followed led players and spectators to flee the grounds in panic, he said.
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Lightning strikes are common during India's monsoon season, which runs from June to September.  There are no solid statistics on the total number of people killed by lightning each year in India because incidents often aren't reported, National Geographic reports, but scientists estimate the number could exceed 3,000 a year.
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