Toll rises to 12 in Uttar Pradesh thunderstorm
The toll from a thunderstorm which lashed parts of the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has risen to 12, officials said on Thursday. "Four deaths were reported from Etawah, three from Mathura, one death each from Agra, Aligarh, Firozabad, and Kanpur Rural last night (Wednesday)," the state principal secretary, information, Avanish Awasthi, said. One more person died at Hathras, the police said.
Adityanath issued directives to expedite rescue and relief operations
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath issued directives on Thursday to expedite the rescue and relief operations on a war footing. In an official statement in Lucknow, he asked the ministers in-charge and district magistrates to visit the affected districts. He said all the repair works of the damage caused by the storm must commence at the earliest along with the assessment of the damage.
Over 130 people killed in thunderstorms on May 2-3
Thunderstorms and lightning on May 2-3 had killed at least 134 people and injured more than 400 in five states in north India, the Union Home Ministry had said. Uttar Pradesh was the hardest hit with 80 deaths, most of them in Agra district.
