Dust storm in US kills 6 after dozens of vehicles crash
At least six people were killed and more than 30 others injured in a dust storm that caused dozens of vehicles to crash along a major highway in the US state of Illinois, police said.
High-velocity winds swept across the National Capital Region (NCR) on Sunday evening, throwing life out of gear. Vehicular traffic came to a standstill at many places as trees got uprooted and hoardings came crashing down on to the roads.
Shoppers were seen running helter-skelter looking for cover. People were more fearful this time as similar conditions in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh had claimed nearly 100 lives only a week ago.
As per reports, more than three dozen flights were diverted from the IGI Airport. There were disruptions in the Metro services as well on some routes.
Advertisement
The India Meteorology Department had forecast thunderstorm accompanied with squall or gusty winds across the state on Sunday.
Thunderstorm, dust storm very likely tomorrow in 26 UP districts
Thunderstorm and dust storm with winds speeds of up to 70 km per hour are “very likely” tomorrow in 26 districts of Uttar Pradesh, the weather office warned today.
It said the districts that could be affected are Bahraich, Shrawasti, Balrampur, Gonda, Siddharth Nagar, Maharajganj, Kushinagar, Gorakhpur, Sant Kabir Nagar, Basti,
Faizabad, Sultanpur, Azamgargh and Ambedkar Nagar.
The other districts are Mau, Deoria, Ballia, Ghazipur, Jaunpur, Pratapgargh, Allahabad, Sant Ravidas Nagar, Varanasi, Chandauli, Mirzapur and Sonbhadra, it said.
The meteorological office also forecast rain in isolated parts of east Uttar Pradesh and said the weather is most likely to remain dry in west UP.
On May 9, several parts of the state were hit by a severe storm that left 18 dead and 27 others injured. Five people died in Etawah district, three each in Mathura, Aligarh and Agra, two in Firozabad and one each in Hathras and Kanpur Dehat.
Thunderstorms and lightning on May 2-3 killed 134 people and injured over 400 in UP, Rajasthan, Telangana, Utttarakhand and Punjab. UP was the worst affected, accounting for 80 deaths, most of them in Agra district in the western part of the state.
(With agency inputs)
Advertisement
