At least 39 people were killed by lightning across India’s eastern state of Bihar during monsoon storms, officials said on Wednesday.

The deaths were reported on Tuesday and Wednesday, an official said from the disaster management control room in the state capital, Patna.

The victims were “mostly farmers or homeless, who were outdoors.’’

Herdsmen banditry as problem of Nigeria’s political elite(Opens in a new browser tab)

Many thatched houses collapsed and sheds were blown away.

The fatalities raised the death toll from flooding and accidents during the monsoon season in Bihar to more than 105.

Lightning strikes and storms are common in India during the monsoon season that stretches between June and September.

Last weekend, 41 people were killed in lightning strikes and storms in Bihar’s neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh.

More than 250 people have died in rain-related incidents in India in July, a bulk of them in Bihar and the north-eastern Assam state.

Vanguard