Rain fury in Bengaluru leaves 10 dead, city grapples with flooding, outages
Heavy rain, hail and gusty winds uproot trees, flood roads and cripple traffic; wall collapse and electrocution incidents reported, rain alert in place
Rains lashed Bengaluru on Wednesday evening, leaving 10 dead and the city in chaos, authorities said. A sudden burst of heavy rain, hail and gusty winds uprooted trees, flooded key stretches and paralysed traffic, officials said on Thursday (April 30).
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Large parts of the city saw intense rainfall for nearly an hour, toppling trees and electric poles, crushing parked vehicles and inundating low-lying areas, while several roads turned impassable, severely disrupting peak-hour traffic.
Series of fatal rain incidents
Seven people, including a six-year-old girl, were killed when a compound wall of the Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital collapsed amid the downpour. Two of the deceased from Kerala and were on a study tour. They had taken shelter near the wall when it gave way, they said.
In another incident, a 35-year-old man, identified as Raghu, died of electrocution on Bannerghatta Road near Vega City Mall. In a separate case in Yarab Nagar, a student, Syed Sufiyan died after coming into contact with a live electric wire while attempting to park his motorcycle during the rain, police said.
One more fatality was reported from Chamarajapet, where Manjunath died on the spot after a cement block fell and pierced through the roof of a house during the storm.
Storm leaves trail of destruction
The sudden spell of rain left a trail of destruction across the city. “So far, 10 people have died due to rain-related incidents in Bengaluru,” police said, attributing the deaths to wall collapse, electrocution and structural damage triggered by the storm.
Civic authorities said at least 87 trees were uprooted and 131 branches snapped across the city, disrupting daily life. Of these, 60 trees and 98 branches had been cleared, while restoration work was ongoing. Several cars and two-wheelers parked along roadsides were crushed under fallen trees.
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Key junctions and underpasses were waterlogged, with the KR Circle underpass completely submerged, forcing police to barricade the stretch due to lack of drainage.
Fallen branches and stalled vehicles further worsened traffic congestion, leaving commuters stranded for hours.
Officials said buildings suffered partial damage in several areas, while the sudden and unanticipated nature of the storm caught many residents off guard. Authorities have issued a rain alert for the next three days.
(With agency inputs)