Lightning & hailstorms kill 25 in Bihar, 22 in UP & 5 in Jharkhand

At least 52 people lost their lives and several others were injured as intense thunderstorms, hailstorms, and lightning struck Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand on Thursday. While the rainfall brought much-needed relief from the summer heat, it came with a deadly cost in these eastern states.

Bihar bore the heaviest brunt of the extreme weather. As per the Chief Minister’s Office, 25 deaths occurred due to lightning and hailstorms. Nalanda alone reported 18 deaths, while Siwan, Katihar, Darbhanga, Begusarai, Bhagalpur, and Jehanabad reported casualties as well.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced ₹4 lakh compensation for each victim’s family. However, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav claimed that the actual death toll may have crossed 50 and demanded better compensation for affected farmers whose crops were devastated.

An orange alert has been issued across multiple districts including Darbhanga, Nalanda, and Patna, warning of heavy rainfall on Friday and Saturday. Patna recorded 42.6 mm of rainfall by 5.30 pm Thursday, causing waterlogging in key areas and disrupting traffic.

In Uttar Pradesh, 22 people died in rain-related incidents across 15 districts. Fatehpur and Azamgarh each reported three deaths, while Firozabad, Kanpur Dehat, and Sitapur each reported two. Other districts with one death include Ghazipur, Gonda, Amethi, Sant Kabir Nagar, Siddharthnagar, Ballia, Kannauj, Barabanki, Jaunpur, and Unnao.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed condolences and ordered ₹4 lakh compensation for the victims’ families. He also directed officials to assess crop damage, ensure safe storage of harvested wheat, and initiate urgent water drainage efforts in affected areas.

Meanwhile, In Jharkhand, five people were killed due to lightning strikes — three in Hazaribagh, and one each in Churchu and Gumla. The highest rainfall was recorded in Daltonganj at 31.8 mm.

Districts like Dhanbad, Hazaribagh, and Koderma witnessed heavy hailstorms, covering fields and roads with a blanket of ice-like hailstones. The severe weather destroyed crops and uprooted several trees and electric poles, causing extensive damage.