The dust storms on Wednesday have killed more than 100 people, destroyed homes and left hundreds without electricity across northern India.
Media reports say at least 109 people have been killed and scores more injured in fierce dust storms that hit the northern Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
The Guardian says there were 73 confirmed deaths in Uttar Pradesh state, most in Agra district where the Taj Mahal is located. Another 36 died in Rajasthan and two each in Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh.
The death toll in all four states could still rise.
The destruction has extended to Punjab, where two died, and Haryana, where trees were uprooted and power supplies cut by the squall. Less intense storms in Delhi caused traffic jams and flight diversions.
Many of the dead were sleeping when their houses collapsed after being struck by intense bursts of lightning, according to the BBC.
Another 14 people were reportedly killed in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, which was hammered by more than 41,000 lightning strikes on Wednesday.
Dust storms are common in this part of India during summer but loss of life on this scale is unusual.
The dust storms are created by a rapid ascent of warm air, which creates a vacuum that air closer to the ground rushes to fill, taking sand and dust with it.
Meteorologists said abnormally high temperatures in past weeks had contributed to the disaster. “It can be called a freak accident,” Mahesh Palawat, a meteorologist at the private forecaster Skymet Weather was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times.
Dust storms last month killed at least 19 people in Rajasthan and 15 people in Uttar Pradesh, where they also damaged the Taj Mahal. Heritage officials said the monument had not been affected by the past week’s storms.
