ANDHRA PRADESH: The state of Andhra Pradesh in India was struck more than 36,000 times with lighting in a span of 13 hours, killing nine people including a nine-year-old girl.
Lightning strikes are not uncommon in India, especially during the monsoon season which runs from June to September.
However, this particular region usually sees increased lightning activity before the monsoon begins, Kishan Sanku, who runs the state emergency operation centre, told the BBC.
Some scientists believe that global warming may be contributing to more active lightning storms. The combination of cold winds from the Arabian Sea and warmer air currents from northern India created an unusually large cloud cover, spanning 124 miles and inflating the risk of lightning storms, Sanku said.
“In our experience, this is very rare,” he added.
In India, nearly 2,000 people have died due to lightning since 2005, according to the National Crime Records Bureau.
In June 2016, 93 people were killed and more than 20 injured by lightning strikes in four states in India.
According to the BBC, the lack of a widespread warning system and a large rural working population are considered possible reasons for why there are so many deaths relating to lightning strikes.