Lightning killed 11 people and injured eight in the past 24 hours in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, hit by unseasonal rain and hailstorms, officials said on Friday. The latest deaths, including a 10-year-old girl, brought the death toll due to bad weather to at least 35 since March 1. More than 100 people have been injured and thousands of hectares of mustard, lentil and wheat crop damaged. "As per preliminary reports, 720 villages in 30 districts have been affected by the unseasonal rains and hailstorms, and crops in 31,850 hectares (78,700 acres) of land has been lost," the state's Chief Minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, told reporters.
