Patna, Jul 2 (IANS): In Bihar, more people were killed by lightning strikes in a week than due to coronavirus. On Thursday, 26 more people died in fresh lightning strikes across the state.

An official of the Disaster Management Department said, according to information received from the districts, 26 people died due to lightning strikes on Thursday in the state - six in Patna, four in East Champaran, seven in Samastipur, three in Katihar, two each in Shivhar and Madhepura and one each in Purnia and West Champaran districts.

The Meteorological Department on Wednesday had issued an alert for heavy rain and thunderstorms in the next 48 hours in Bihar.

On Tuesday, 11 people had died by lightning in various districts of Bihar, while on June 26, at least 96 people died across Bihar in lightning strikes.

So far more than 78 people have died due to Covid-19 in Bihar in more than three months since the first case was detected in the state and more than 10,000 are infected with the virus, while more than 125 people were killed by lightning strikes in the state in just a week.