POWERFUL storms that swept across northern India's Uttar Pradesh this week have killed at least 111 people, government officials said, as more districts reported casualties and the death toll continued to rise.
Strong winds, lightning and heavy rain hit the state on Wednesday, tearing tin roofs off buildings and uprooting trees that blocked roads, television footage showed.
The state's Relief Commissioner's office had earlier said on May 13 that 89 people were killed and 72 injured, while more than 200 homes were damaged.
The toll was later revised to 111 deaths as more reports were received, according to remarks published in The Hindu newspaper on Friday.
"Reports of 111 deaths were received," the statement said, adding that 72 people were injured.
One video shared by Indian media appeared to show a man being thrown high into the air in Bareilly district as the roof of a building was ripped away.
AFP could not immediately verify the video, but the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency spoke to a survivor in hospital who said he was the man seen in the footage.
Nanhe Ansari, a labourer, said he was trying to secure a tin roof with a rope when a strong gust lifted the sheet metal while he was holding it.
"The tin sheet started shaking due to strong winds, so I asked them to bring a rope to tie it down," he told PTI from his hospital bed.
"While some of us were holding it and one person was tying it, a very strong gust of wind came. My grip did not loosen, and I was lifted nearly 50 feet (15 metres) into the air along with the tin sheet and thrown about 80 feet away," he added.
"The sheet fell first, and then I fell into a maize field filled with water. I thought I would not survive, but I did."
India's weather office has in recent years warned about an increase in extreme weather events, including thunderstorms and lightning, which experts have linked to rising temperatures and changing climate patterns.
The statement said officials had been instructed to distribute financial aid to affected families.
The weather that swept across Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday was part of widespread pre-monsoon thunderstorm activity caused by unstable atmospheric conditions.
(With inputs from agencies)
