Lightning strikes, rain kill 23 in north India

By Shuriah Niazi
NEW DELHI (AA) - Lightning strikes and heavy rain in parts of India’s Bihar state killed 23 people on Sunday night, an emergency official said.
Eighteen people were killed when lightning struck them, Anirudh Kumar, a senior official of the Bihar State Disaster Management Authority said, prompting an alert in the region.
Five people lost their lives when a wall collapsed due to heavy rain, he added.
More than 50 people were killed in June last year during similar lightning strikes in Bihar.
Government data states 2,000 people lose their lives to lightening-related incidents every year, mostly during the monsoon season from May to September.
As rain lashed parts of Bihar, other states in India recorded very hot temperatures.
Twelve people in Orissa state lost their lives due to an ongoing heat wave, emergency officials said.
The highest temperature of 47C (117F) was recorded in Churu, a city in northern Rajasthan state. A heat wave was also reported in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh states.