This week, powerful thunderstorms in eastern India’s Bihar state and in neighboring Nepal led to the deaths of at least 69 people, officials said on Saturday.

These storms brought heavy rain, thunder, and lightning, which are common during the monsoon season but have been unusually intense this time.

Out of the total deaths, 61 people died in Bihar during storms on Thursday and Friday. In Nepal, eight more people lost their lives due to lightning strikes on Wednesday and Thursday.

The weather department has warned that Bihar may face more heavy rain on Saturday. Although lightning and floods already cause thousands of deaths in the region every year, scientists are warning that rising global temperatures are making such extreme weather events worse and more frequent.

Experts say that lightning is becoming deadlier in India, killing around 1,900 people each year. A research team from Fakir Mohan University in Odisha found that between 1967 and 2020, over 100,000 people died from lightning in India, with a big rise in deaths over the last decade.