Heatstroke kills 33 polling staff in a state on last day of India election

While several people have died during the intense heatwave, dozens dying in one day marks an especially grim toll.

At least 33 Indian polling staff died on the last day of voting from heatstroke in just one state, says a top election official, after scorching temperatures gripped swaths of the country.

Navdeep Rinwa, chief electoral officer for the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, where voting in the seventh and final stage of the election ended on Saturday, said 33 polling personnel died due to the heat.

The figure included security guards and sanitation staff.

“A monetary compensation of 1.5 million rupees [$18,000] will be provided to the families of the deceased,” Rinwa told reporters on Sunday.