India: Casualties Mount After Storm Hits Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan

A deadly storm, which hit the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, Wednesday has killed at least 78 people and left over 200 people injured.

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The high-intensity squall and thundershowers have caused the unusually high number of casualties. Sixty-four people were reported dead in Uttar Pradesh, 43 of them in Agra district which is home to the Taj Mahal monument. The storm has also affected three regions in neighboring Rajasthan - Alwar, Bharatpur, and Dholpur. Officials say the death toll could increase.

Dust storms in the summer are a common feature in the arid, desert western India but the loss of life on this scale is unusual. Apart from lost lives, heavy rain and high winds also knocked down electricity poles and trees, blocked roads and disrupted power supplies in the worst affected areas.

The state government has announced a compensation of 400,000 rupees (about $6,000) to the families of those deceased. 

"I've been in office for 20 years, and this is the worst I've seen," Hemant Gera, secretary for disaster management and relief in Rajasthan, told the BBC.

"We had a high-intensity dust storm on 11 April - 19 people died then - but this time it struck during the night so many people sleeping and couldn't get out of their houses when mud walls collapsed," Gera said the teams were trying to restore electricity to homes after 200 to 300 electricity poles were felled in the storm.

The storm also reached the capital of Delhi, nearly 100 km (62 miles) away, along with heavy rains late Wednesday evening.