When lightning lit up the sky over Rajasthan, India on Sunday, a number of people raced to the top of a popular watchtower to take selfies, using the lightning as a backdrop. And they paid for the photo op with their lives.
“Lightning struck the watchtower, killing 11 people on the spot and injuring others,” says senior police officer Anand Srivastava, who adds, “The tower’s wall collapsed.”
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 groundhttps://t.co/cR6QvPe7jD
— BBC News India (@BBCIndia) July 12, 2021
Workers dug through the rubble of the 12th-century tower for more than 12 hours to recover the victims’ bodies, which included children, officials say. “Many people were buried under it,” Srivastava says. “Since the fort is on a hill when the debris was falling and space reduced, some people also fell into a ditch.”
In addition to the victims, 11 people were transported to local hospitals, police say. All were reported to be in stable condition on Monday.
Do you know why you shouldn’t be in a high place during a lightning storm?
