Powerful dust storm, rain leaves 11 dead in northern India

LUCKNOW, India – A powerful dust storm and rain have hit northern India for the second time in a week, killing at least 11 people and injuring another 25.

Avanish Awasthi, a government official, says the storm with a wind speed of up to 100 kilometers (60 miles) per hour swept western parts of Uttar Pradesh state on Wednesday night, toppling trees and demolishing dozens of mud and brick homes.

Several villages and towns in the area have been plunged into darkness with the storm uprooting electric poles and wires.

A similar unseasonal powerful dust storm and thundershowers a week ago left more than 120 people dead and another 200 injured in five Indian states. The monsoon season is nearly six weeks away in India.