Lightning kills dozens at popular Indian Amar fort attraction

Experts blame India's changing climate for a spike in deadly electrical storms: weather-beaten Jaipur. Photo / Vishal Bhatnagar, Getty Images

At least 16 people were killed at an historic fortress during an electrical storm over a northern Indian city of Jaipur.

Tourists visiting the 12-century Amer Fort on Sunday were reportedly taking selfies when they were struck by lightning.

Dozens of people were rescued from the popular attraction in Rajasthan, after the crowded walls were hit by a bolt of lightning.

"With the help of locals, we rescued around 29 people from the Amer Fort area after lightning struck them," Anand Srivastava, Police Commissioner for Jaipur, told the ANI news agency.

"Of these, 16 people have died."

The Commissioner described those caught up in the storm as mostly young, with some falling from the walls of a watch tower.

Walls of the ancient fort reportedly crumbled, with some people injured by debris, reported CNN.

Reports say a watchtower, crowded with tourists was struck by lightning: Amer Fort. Photo, Vishal Bhatnagar, Getty Images

The state saw an additional nine lightning deaths on Sunday, in separate incidents.

Neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, the country's most populated state, saw an additional 41 killed by the freak weather, with 14 in the city of Allahabad alone.

Over the weekend, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the state ministers for Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan gave their condolences and pledged compensation for the families.
The Prime Minister announced ₹2L or $3,900 to the next of kin an ₹50,00 ($96) for each family member injured in the storms.

The Prime Minister was briefed about the loss of lives and damages due to lightning in parts of Uttar Pradesh. An ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh each from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs. 50,000 would be given to the injured.

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 12, 2021

Around 2000 people are killed by lightning on the subcontinent every year. This number has spiked since the late 1990s, with a rise of 40 percent.

"Lightning incidents and associated deaths went up by about 40 percent between 1995 and 2014 while the yearly lightning deaths more than doubled (from 1,000 to 2,500) between 1968 and 2019," SD Pawar, an electrical storms expert for the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, told The Federal.

The Amer Fort in Jaipur, Northern India is a popular tourist attraction. Photo / Mohd Aram, Unsplash

With a trend well outside the trend in population growth, Pawar said these electrical storms were without doubt the result of climate change.

This is only exacerbated with the exposed rural areas, where the few trees or shelter become conductors for lightning strikes.

Only 4 per cent of lightning deaths are recorded in urban areas.