Climate change 'fuelling deadly India lightning strikes'

Lightning strikes killed 147 people in the north Indian state of Bihar over the last 10 days, officials said Sunday, warning of more extreme weather conditions to come, driven by climate change.

Around 215 people -- farmers, rural labourers and cattle graziers -- have now died from strikes in the country's poorest state since late March, authorities said.

"I was informed by weather experts, scientists and officials that rising temperatures due to climate change is the main cause behind the increasing lightning strikes," Bihar's Disaster Management Minister Lakshmeshwar Rai told AFP.