NEW DELHI
At least 40 people were killed in New Delhi and parts of north and east India in the past two days as a massive thunderstorm wreaked havoc disrupting normal life out of gear, Indian media reported.
Some parts of New Delhi were without power on Saturday as the storm caused India’s northern electricity grid a load loss of 8,000 Mega Watts (MW).
The interruption of power supply affected states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Haryana as well.
“68 transmission lines tripped. The load loss was at the rate of 200 MW per minute, resulting in a northern grid load loss of about 8,000 MW, including 3,500 MW in Delhi,” federal Ministry of Power said in a media statement on Saturday.
The storm unleashed its fury in the national capital on Friday evening as strong winds exceeding 75 kmph accompanied by rains and lightning affected incoming flights and metro train services.
Disruption in public transport caused major traffic jam on Delhi’s water-clogged roads. Hundreds of trees and street-light poles were uprooted. Electrocution and wall collapse incidents in Delhi and adjoining areas killed nine people.
The thunderstorm killed 14 people in Uttar Pradesh -- India’s biggest and most populous state -- while seven died in Jharkhand and ten in West Bengal state.
By Mubasshir Mushtaq
aa.com.tr/en
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