India: at least 19 people killed by lightning and heavy rains

Photo: India: at least 19 people killed by lightning and heavy rains

The latest deaths brought to 31 the number of people killed in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh in the past two days as rain driven by heavy winds continued to lash the region's cities, towns and villages, causing poorly built buildings to collapse.

Of those killed in the past 24 hours, seven died when a two-story house collapsed in the town of Kabir Nagar, while a family of three was killed by lightning in the city of Allahabad, said police spokesman Surendra Srivastava.

Lighting and building collapses also killed the other nine people, and another 42 people were injured, five seriously, he said.

A dozen people died between late Wednesday and Thursday after the heavy weather began, the AP reports.

The storms are not related to the start of the monsoon, which has so far killed nearly 30 people, most of them along India's west coast. The monsoon is not expected to being hitting northern India until later this month.