Rains and thunder showers gave the much needed relief to the people but also played havoc in the eastern parts of the state, where lightning and thunderstorms claimed about two dozen lives.

According to information received here, the spire of a temple built in Kashi Vishwanath Dham also collapsed due to rain and lightning on Tuesday.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has expressed grief at the death of people due to lightning and expressed condolences to the bereaved families. He also directed senior officers to extend all possible help to the family members of the victims.

Two deaths were reported from Kanpur and one from Fatehpur due to lightning. A minor girl died after being struck by lightning in Prayagraj. The girl was in the house of her maternal grandfather.

Two minor children died due to lightning in Varanasi. These incidents took place in Mirzamurad police station area where 11-year-old Hemant and 15-year-old Prabhat, residents of Adamapur village, died after being struck by lightning. In Varanasi, a former cook of a government school working in a field was also struck by lightning, and died on the spot.

A 15-year-old boy and a 50-year-old woman died due to lightning at two different places in Bhadohi. Besides, three more people, including a teenager, died after being struck by lightning late in the evening on Tuesday in Bhadohi. Additional Superintendent of Police Rajesh Bharti said that Shashi Bhushan Dubey (45), Sukhna Devi (60) and Ankit Gautam (45) died of burns.

Two children died due to lightning in the Baldi Rai area of Sultanpur district on Tuesday. Police officer Rajaram Choudhary said that three children were grazing their buffaloes on Tuesday afternoon in the Dihwa village under Baldiray police station area when suddenly it started raining with thunder, during which all the three children were scorched after being struck by lightning. He said the relatives of the victims and villagers took the three children to the hospital where Shatrughan (11) and Amit (13) died during the treatment while the third child Aham (8) was undergoing treatment.

According to a report received from Maharajganj, Raghuvar Nayak (45) and Khushi (16) died after being struck by lightning in the field in Badi village under Nichlaul police station. Additional District Magistrate Satya Prakash Mishra said that two other people also sustained burns in this incident.

Three people lost their lives in Ballia's Bairia, Dokati and Sikanderpur due to lightning. In Mirzapur's Lalganj, two people, including a teenager, died after being hit by a thunderstorm while one person each died in Siddharthnagar and Basti due to lightning.

Meanwhile, as many as 26 passengers were injured, three of them seriously, when a private bus hit a road divider and overturned on Agra- Lucknow Expressway on Wednesday. The injured were admitted to a community health centre and three of the injured were referred to the district hospital.

According to reports, the bus was coming from Chhapra in Bihar and was on its way to Delhi. Most of the passengers were sleeping when the accident took place. It is presumed that the driver had dozed off and lost control of the vehicle.