Man hurled 50 feet into air as India storms kill 111

A 50-year-old e-rickshaw driver was lifted nearly 50 feet into the air and flung across a field by violent storm winds in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly district, in a dramatic incident that captured the force of the deadly weather system that has killed at least 111 people across the state.

Mohammed Nanhe, a resident of Bamiana village, was trying to stop a tin shed at a wedding hall from being blown away on Wednesday evening when a powerful gust tore it loose and carried him with it. A video of the incident, recorded from a nearby rooftop, showed him rising with the sheet metal before being thrown across the area and landing in a sugarcane field, The Times of India reported.

Nanhe suffered fractures in his hand and leg but survived what villagers described as a near-miraculous escape. “When I was in the air, I thought I would never see my children again,” he said.

Storm turns routine moment into viral spectacle

Nanhe had gone to the wedding hall to collect some goods when the weather suddenly worsened. As strong winds began uprooting the tin structure, he tied a rope to it and held on, hoping to prevent it from flying off.

Instead, the gust lifted both the shed and Nanhe. He remained airborne for several seconds before being dropped in a nearby field. He briefly lost consciousness after the fall but later said the crop cushioned the impact and probably saved his life.

The clip, filmed by 16-year-old Rajan Ansari from his rooftop, spread rapidly across Indian media and social platforms, with users calling Nanhe the “Bareilly flying man”. Nanhe was taken to hospital and discharged after his condition stabilised, but his family said he was readmitted the following afternoon after his health deteriorated.

Death toll rises across Uttar Pradesh

The incident came as powerful pre-monsoon storms swept through Uttar Pradesh, bringing gales, lightning and torrential rain. The Relief Commissioner’s office said at least 111 people had died and 72 were injured, while more than 200 homes were damaged.

The storms ripped tin roofs from buildings, uprooted trees and blocked roads across several districts. Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state with more than 240 million people, is often hit by severe storms in the summer months before the monsoon, with lightning strikes a regular cause of deaths.

Officials have been instructed to distribute financial assistance to affected families. India’s weather office has warned in recent years of a rise in extreme weather events, including intense thunderstorms and lightning, which experts link to rising temperatures and changing climate patterns.