Local people described the strikes as some of the worst they had ever seen.

A majority of the deaths occurred in the eastern state of Bihar, where 57 people died after being struck by lightning, a state official said. At least 24 others were injured when thunderstorms and monsoon rains lashed 14 districts of the state.

Ten people were killed by lightning in neighboring Jharkhand state, six in northern Uttar Pradesh state, and another in Maharashtra, police said.

Lightning kills thousands every year, most of them farmers working the fields. More than 2,500 people were killed by lightning in India in 2014, according to the National Crime Records Bureau./.

( VNF )