Lightning kills at least 25 people in Pakistan

Lightning strikes killed at least 25 people and injured several more during a deadly night in Pakistan's Sindh province, police said Friday.

Thunderstorms and a heavy downpour caused havoc in several villages, destroying dozens of homes, in an unusual rainfall event.  A meteorologist said the rainfall could be due to climate change.

According to the police chief of the region, officers in each village had verified that each death was caused by lightning strike.

The Thar desert, straddling the Indian border and one of Pakistan's poorest areas, is dependent on monsoon rains.

But such a heavy rainfall in November is "unusual", while "lightning of that intensity is unprecedented," said Dr Syed Sarfraz, a senior meteorological officer in Karachi.

He said the causes were still being investigated but suggested hot air over the desert had met with a cold air mass entering from Iran, fuelling the storms. Climate change could also be playing a role, he added.

Dozens of tents and blankets were dispatched from Karachi in a relief effort for the families who lost their homes in the rain.