At least 69 people were killed this week in unusually intense thunderstorms across eastern India’s Bihar state and in neighbouring Nepal, officials said Saturday (April 12, 2025).
While flash floods and lightning kill thousands of people each year, scientists warn that rising global temperatures are unleashing a cascade of extreme weather events.
Bihar disaster authorities said Saturday (April 12, 2025) that at least 61 people had died in strong thunder and lightning storms on Thursday (April 10, 2025) and Friday (April 11, 2025).
Eight more people were killed in neighbouring Nepal, disaster officials told AFP, blaming “lightning strikes” on Wednesday (April 9, 2025) and Thursday (April 10, 2025).
Heavy rain is forecast to hit Bihar again on Saturday (April 12, 2025), according to the local India Meteorological Department office.
Last year, experts warned that climate change was fuelling an alarming increase in deadly lightning strikes in India, killing nearly 1,900 people a year in the world’s most populous country.
Lightning caused 101,309 deaths between 1967 and 2020, with a sharp increase between 2010 and 2020, a team of researchers led by Fakir Mohan University in the eastern state of Odisha said.
Published – April 12, 2025 01:40 pm IST