Early monsoon death toll hits 75 in India
Afp, Lucknow
The official death toll from lightning strikes and powerful storms has risen to 75 as annual summer monsoon rains tore through India ahead of schedule, authorities said.Seventeen more deaths were reported from late Thursday night in three Indian states on top of 58 people who died earlier. Lightning killed three people while three others died overnight after gusting winds wrecked homes at Allahabad in northern Uttar Pradesh, police spokesman Manish Awasthi told AFP yesterday. A total of 32 dead have been reported from Uttar Pradesh alone since May 18 when the monsoon hit India's Andaman archipelago and then swirled up the west coast states of Kerala, Maharashtra and Gujarat. Maharashtra government spokesman Bhushan Gagrani announced 19 rain-related deaths during the week in the western state.
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