At least 30 people dead in dust storm, heavy rains

At least 30 people have died and several others injured in the rains accompanied with duststorm in several parts of the country including Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Manipur, officials said on Wednesday.

As many as nine persons, including four children, died in Rajasthan as lightning struck many areas in the state.

Several districts in the state of Gujarat have been severely affected.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast heavy rainfall in isolated parts of Gujarat and also predicted thunderstorms accompanied with gusty winds (wind speed reaching 40-50 kmph) and lightning at isolated places in Chhattisgarh, East Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Sikkim, Odisha, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu and Kerala.

At least 10 people died in lightning related incidents in Madhya Pradesh and as many died in other affected states. (UNI)