Six dead as thunderstorm hits Kumbh Mela site in Ujjain

Nearly a third of the tents put by the pilgrims were blown off in the squall, police official BS Chauhan said, adding it will take at least a week to erect them again

Six persons were killed and around 40 others injured this evening when heavy rain accompanied by lightning and squall wreaked havoc at the site of the ongoing Simhatha Kumbh Mela here, flattening and uprooting pilgrims' tents.

"Six people have been killed and 40 injured in and around the Mela area," district collector Kavindra Kiyawat told PTI. The second Shahi-Snan is due on May 9.

A woman pilgrim was killed in Undasa area when lightning struck her, Superintendent of police Manohar Verma said.

Nearly a third of the tents put by the pilgrims were blown off in the squall, another police official BS Chauhan said, adding it will take at least a week to erect them again.

Rescuers were clearing the collapsed tents and pulling out the people trapped under them.

The rain made large parts of the Mela ground slushy, making the rescue operation difficult. Authorities have cut off the electricity supply to the area as a precautionary measure.