AKIPRESS.COM - At least 50 people are reported to have died amid heavy thunder and lightning that battered parts of northern India on Tuesday, local media report.

High-speed winds and lighting strikes devastated many villages, bringing down walls and leaving dozens injured.

The eastern state of Bihar was the worst hit, with 20 confirmed deaths due to lightning.

The latest incidents come weeks after devastating dust storms killed more than 100 people across north India.

Lightning strikes are common in India during heavy monsoon rains, BBC reported.

Fifteen people have been killed in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh and at least 12 have died in the eastern state of Jharkhand, officials told BBC Hindi.

Three children died after a tree collapsed on them in the northern state of Uttarakhand, according to the PTI news agency.