Hailstorm kills 24 people in North India; lowers mercury in Delhi

New Delhi, May 12 (UNI) At least 24 people, including two children, were killed overnight due to lightning and thundershowers in north India which brought down the mercury in most parts of the region.

In Uttar Pradesh at least 19 people were killed and many others injured in separate incidents due to strong winds.

Sixteen people were reported dead from Musafirkhana, Sadar, Amethi and Lambhua in Sultanpur disrtict, District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar said.

A woman and her three siblings were killed in Musafirkhana Tehsil area.

In separate incidents, Rangbahadur Singh (45) in Amethi Tehsil, Gaurav (8) in Peevarpur village, Ram Lakhan in Karori village died, after tree and hoaders fell on them. Two others died in Gajhedi under Sultanpur and Kudvar district in similar incidents.

Three members of a family were killed when they got buried under the debris of their house which collapsed due to intense winds in Pratapgarh.

Thunderstorm and lightning claimed five lives, including two children, in Darbhanga district of Bihar.

The District Magistrate Upendra Sharma said three people, including two children Lalbabu and Kishori Yadav, were killed when the roof of their ''pucca'' house at Baruara village suddenly caved in after the thunderstorm, while 50-year-old Savitri Devi lost her life in a similar incident in Panta village.

He said in another incident at Sinuwargopal village of the same district, one Narayan Sahni was killed when he took shelter under a tree during a heavy downpour and was struck by lightning. He died on the spot.

Meanwhile, the mercury again rose in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh despite rains in the hilly state but declined in Haryana and Delhi.

While the mercury showed upward movement at Amritsar, Ludhiana, Bhuntar, Sundernagar and Una, the temperature dropped at Hisar, Ambala and Karnal.

Hisar reeled under intense heat wave even as the maximum temperature plummeted to 40.2 degrees Celsius. Ambala and Karnal also showed a decline in the temperature hovering three degrees and four degrees C below normal at respective places. Ambala recorded 36.0 degrees C and Karnal 35.0 degrees C.

The temperature again soared in Punjab with the Amritsar recording 38.8 degrees C, one degree above normal. Ludhiana recorded 37.0 degrees C, Patiala 36.6 degrees C and Chandigarh 38.4 degrees C.

The temperature also rose in Himachal Pradesh even as the state experienced showers at many places, including Bhuntar, Sundernagar, Pandoh, Rampur, Sunjabpur Tira, overnight.

Bhuntar in Kullu district recorded 28.2 degrees while Sundernagar in Mandi district registered 32.4 degrees. Shimla registered 24.4 degrees.

Hailstorm or thundersquall with speed exceeding 45 km per hour is likely to occur at isolated places in the region during the period.

The mercury in the national capital fell to 38 degrees due to heavy showers and a squall last night, bringing down the mercury by 14 degrees. The cool air in Delhi is likely to persist for few more days with the weatherman forecasting more thundersqualls over Delhi and other parts of Northwest India during the next 48 hours.

Heat wave conditions prevailed over south coastal Andhra Pradesh and gripped northern Madhya Pradesh with Hoshangabad turning out to be hottest in the state, recording a temperature of 44.2 degrees.

Heat wave conditions over south Coastal Andhra Pradesh were likely to continue for the next 48 hours.

In Madhya Pradesh, a marginal drop in temperature was recorded at several places, including Indore, Gwalior and Jabalpur, but there was no respite from the heat. Gwalior recorded a high of 42 degrees.

Rain or thundershowers are likely to occur at many places in Arunachal Pradesh, Asom, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, West Bengal and Sikkim.

Mainly dry weather will prevail over Rajasthan, west Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Gujarat, Konkan, Goa, Madhya Maharashtra and Marathwada.

UNI