More than 100 people were killed in a violent storm that battered India's most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, with rain and hail, the state Disaster Management and Relief office said on Thursday.
At least 104 people died in about a dozen districts, the worst hit being the area around the Hindu pilgrimage city of Prayagraj, the office of the state's relief commissioner, Hrishikesh Bhaskar Yashod, told Reuters.
"The entire area where we live turned black for around half an hour," said Ashok Rai, who lives in the coal-rich industrial town of Obra in the state's Sonbhadra district.
"Strong winds lifted hoardings and signboards and thick coal dust from the ground and hurled them around," he added.
Storms are common in the northern state during the hot season from March to June, before the monsoon rains bring respite.
"Adverse weather conditions" on Wednesday led to the deaths of 89 people, Uttar Pradesh's relief commissioner said in a post on X.
There were also reports of 53 people injured, 87 houses damaged, and 114 livestock killed in the state due to the storms, rain, hail, and lightning, the post added.
Television images showed trees and billboards uprooted by gusts of wind, with some crashing into cars amid clouds of dust and debris that knocked down wooden furniture at roadside stalls.
Additional fatalities were reported in Budaun district, where five people died in storm-related incidents, and in Sonbhadra district, where one death was confirmed, according to the Press Trust of India.
The chief minister of the state, governed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, had directed officials to assist survivors and distribute financial aid within 24 hours, authorities said.
Meanwhile, rain hit parts of the capital New Delhi, also affecting flight traffic at Indira Gandhi International Airport.
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