- Lightning strikes in the eastern Indian states of Bihar and Jharkhand
- Death toll across the weekend is extremely unusual
- Lightning strikes during June-October monsoon season are common
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Lightning strikes killed 32 people, including nine children, during storms at the weekend in India.
It is not rare for lightning to strike someone when it is monsoon season, but that the sheer number of the death toll is extremely rare.
The strikes killed people in the eastern Indian states of Bihar and Jharkhand.
Fatal: Lightning strikes killed 32 people, including nine children, during storms at the weekend in India (file)
'About 24 people including seven children were killed Saturday and Sunday by bolts of lightning across Bihar,' State Disaster Management Minister Renu Kumari Kushwaha said.
In neighbouring Jharkhand, eight people including two children died, Puran Mahto, an official in the state's Dhanbad district said.
Torrential rains accompanied by strong winds uprooted trees, damaged houses and brought down power cables across the region on Sunday night.
Rare: Though lightning strikes during the June-October monsoon season are common, the weekend toll was unusually high
EXTREMELY HIGH DEATH TOLL
It is not rare for lightning strike someone when it is monsoon season, but that the sheer number of the death toll is extremely rare.
On average three people die in the UK each year from lightning strikes, while in the US 30 people a year are usually killed.
The chances of being struck by lighting once in a give year are around one in 700,000.
The chance of being struck twice within such a short space of time are virtually unmeasurable.
Only around ten per cent of people who are struck by lightning die, usually because the bolt of electricity causes their heart and breathing to stop.
The high death toll is extremely unusual - on average three people die in the UK each year from lightning strikes, while in the US 30 people a year are usually killed.
Though lightning strikes during the June-October monsoon season are common, the weekend toll was unusually high.
Villagers housed in bamboo-and-grass huts are generally most at risk.
Last June 27 people were killed in Bihar following lightning strikes and more than two dozen
sustained serious burn injuries.
Nalanda and Aurangabad districts reported six deaths each, Rohtas four, Shekhpura and Nawada three each, and Gaya and Bhojpur two each. One death was reported from Kaimur.
In 2009 at least 35 people including eight children were killed after they were struck by lightning in the adjoining eastern Indian states of Bihar and Jharkhand.
The chances of being struck by lighting once in a give year are around one in 700,000.
Only around ten per cent of people who are struck by lightning die, usually because the bolt of electricity causes their heart and breathing to stop.
Those who survive tend to wake up from the shock within a few seconds but have little recollection of what happened before the injury.
They could suffer minor burns and stroke-like symptoms. A doctor may later point to lightning strikes as the cause of injury.
Deadly: The strikes killed people in the eastern Indian states of Bihar and Jharkhand
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