Storm kills 32 people

LUCKNOW: At least 32 people have died in a storm in northern India that saw 110 km per hour winds uproot trees and knock down homes. Police official Surendra Srivastava said on Monday night’s lightning and hail storm injured an additional 23 people across Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state. In one incident, five members of a family died when a tree crushed their mud house in Rampur, 300 km southwest of state capital, Lucknow. Uprooted trees blocked highways outside major cities in the state. Government official Om Prakash Sharma said electricity was out in 22 districts. The storm came before the annual monsoon rains that can wreak havoc across India. The monsoon usually reaches northern India in June.