Lightning Kills At Least 11 Selfie-Takers In India’s Jaipur

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Amer Fort is a popular attraction in the city of Jaipur. Photo: CNN

Lightning hit Amer Fort on the outskirts of the city, according to Shankar Lal Saini, a senior disaster management official in Jaipur.

"There was a tower there. When the lightning struck, the tower's wall collapsed, many people were buried under it. Since the fort is on a hill, when the debris was falling and space reduced, some people also fell into a ditch," Saini told CNN.

The incident happened at 6.30 p.m. on July 11 and police and civil defense force officials carried out rescue operations until 7 a.m. on July 12, according to Saini.

The 11 bodies recovered included women and children. The victims were declared dead on arrival at the city's Sawai Man Singh Hospital.

A further 11 people were rescued and are in stable condition, Saini said. Those at the fort included locals as well as tourists, he added.

"Because it is a hilly area and there are a lot of trees the rescue teams kept looking till morning in case anyone is left behind but now all people have been accounted for," Saini said.

A thunderstorm in Srinagar, India, last week. The Indian meteorological department has warned of more lightning in the next few days. Photo: Saqib Majeed/SOPA Images/Rex/Shutterstock

The Guardian cited officials as saying that lightning has killed at least 76 people in India during the early stages of the annual monsoon season.

Deadly lightning strikes are common in the vast Asian nation during the June-September deluge, which bring respite from the summer heat across the northern Indian plains.

Of the 76 killed, at least 23 people died in the mostly desert state of Rajasthan, a state disaster department official told AFP.

Every year, tens of thousands of tourists visit the Amer Fort, a medieval complex on a hilltop outside Jaipur also known as the Amber Fort.

People had been flocking to the fort, which gives a panoramic view of the tourist city of Jaipur, after several weeks of intense heat in the state.

In the neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh, at least 42 people were killed in lightning strikes on July 10 and 11, officials said. They did not give further details about where they had been killed.

Another 11 people died in the central state of Madhya Pradesh over the weekend, an official at the state’s disaster control room told AFP.

Two of them, who had taken their camels and sheep for grazing, were sheltering under a tree when they were hit by lightning, the official said.

Rescue teams search the Amber Fort after several people died following a lightning strike. Photo: AP

Last month, 27 people were killed and four passengers on a flight were admitted to hospital after severe turbulence during monsoon storms in the eastern state of West Bengal.

Nearly 2,900 people were killed by lightning in India in 2019, according to the National Crime Records Bureau – the most recent figures available.

In June 2020, at least 107 people were killed by lightning strikes in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in just two days.

NDTV said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed his deepest condolences over the deaths - his office has announced compensation from the PM relief fund for the families of those killed. The state governments of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have also announced compensations of ₹ 5 lakh each to the affected families.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has announced financial help for those who lost their livestock in rain-related incidents./.

Amber Fort dates back to the 12th century. Photo: AP

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