Thunderstorms: Four of family crushed to death by mosque minaret following heavy rains

Four members of a family were killed when the minaret of an old mosque fell on their house during a thunderstorm in Lakhimpur Keri district of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday night.

The incident was reported from Bhurwara village in Gola area of Lakhimpur Kheri. Around 10 people were trapped under the rubble when the minaret of an old mosque could not bear the high-velocity winds, followed by heavy rains, and fell on a house, adjoining the mosque.

A rescue team was rushed to the village with JCB machines and bulldozers to clear the rubble and rescue those trapped inside. While six people of the family were rescued, four members died. Their bodies were retrieved early Wednesday morning.

The injured were rushed to the district hospitals where condition of two was stated to be critical. Those who were killed in the incident included Azeemullah (40), his daughter Nazia (15), sons Zubair (20) and Babblu (10).

In another incident on Tuesday, a Nepali woman was killed and half a dozen persons were injured when lightning struck Tikunia village in the district. 

The Relief Commissioner Sajnay Kumar has directed District Magistrates to hand over Rs 4 lakh to the families of those killed and distribute relief material to people in affected areas. “Over 150 lost their life in the natural calamities that repeatedly hit the state in May,” claimed Kumar.

On Tuesday, at least 54 people were killed on Tuesday because of thunderstorms that hit various parts of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar, Hindustan Times reported. The five deaths reported on Wednesday took the total to 59. With this, the toll from freak weather is now 295.