At least 16 people were killed and many others were injured in a lightning strike in the northern city of India’s Jaipur on Sunday.
The victims were snapping selfies in the rain on a watch tower at the renowned tourist attraction Amer Fort, built in the 12th century, reports BBC.
Some 27 people were on the tower and the wall of the fort when the incident happened - and some of them reportedly jumped to the ground.
Since 2004, lightning strikes have killed an average of 2,000 Indians per year.
Also Read: Lightning strikes kill 63 in India
According to a senior police official, the tower was a popular site in the fort, and the majority of those killed were young.
Nine additional people were killed by lightning strikes on Sunday in Rajasthan, the state where Jaipur is located, according to local media reports.
Ashok Gehlot, the state's chief minister, has proposed a compensation package worth $6,700 for the relatives of those who have died.
The monsoon season in India, which brings torrential rainfall, lasts from June through September.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that lightning-related deaths in India have increased since the 1960s, citing the climate crisis as one of the reasons.
According to the data, lightning strikes have grown by 30% to 40% from the early to mid-1990s. In the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, 36,749 lightning strikes were reported in under 13 hours in 2018. Officials believe they are more common in regions with less tree cover, making people more vulnerable.
