Lightning strikes kill 93 people in just two days

At least 93 people have been killed by lightning strikes in India in just two days, according to disaster management officials. The country's annual monsoon season, which runs from June to October, has been wreaking havoc since it hit the southern coast earlier this month - but the death toll this week has been particularly high.

Most deaths occurred in the eastern state of Bihar, where an overnight storm killed at least 56 people and injured another 28, mainly in rural areas.

'The death toll has climbed to 56 and 28 are injured. Many of the victims are children and women,' said Anirudh Kumar, a senior official at Bihar's diaster management agency.

Another 37 people were killed across Uttar Pradesh, Jharkand and Madhya Pradesh states, according to figures compiled by local disaster management authorities.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted that he was 'deeply anguished' by the loss of life.

Lightning kills thousands of Indians every year, most of them farmers working in the fields.

More than 2,500 people were killed by lightning in India in 2014 according to the National Crime Records Bureau, the most recent figures available.

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