Thunderstorm in Eastern India Leaves at Least 40 Dead

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/23/world/asia/thunderstorm-in-eastern-india-leaves-at-least-40-dead.html

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NEW DELHI — A huge, fast-moving thunderstorm killed at least 40 people in the eastern Indian state of Bihar on Tuesday night, most of them trapped under fallen roofs or struck by falling trees and tree limbs.

The Purnia district was hit hardest, with more than 30 deaths. “All the roads of the district were blocked because of felled trees,” said Om Prakash Prasad, the director of the district’s rural development agency. “I haven’t seen such a thunderstorm in my life.”

Crops were destroyed by the storm in many districts. Farmers throughout the country have complained in recent weeks of crops lost to unseasonal rains.