A high-intensity dust storm left 45 people dead and 38 injured in Uttar Pradesh, the state revenue and relief commissioner Sanjay Kumar told PTI. Agra was the worst hit, accounting for 36 deaths and leaving 35 injured.

Kumar said, "Around 40 to 50 people have been killed after a dust storm hit Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday. Relief will be given to the affected within 24 hours".

Besides Agra, the other affected districts were Bijnor, Bareilly, Saharanpur, Pilibhit, Firozabad, Chitrakoot, Muzaffarnagar, Rae Bareli and Unnao.

Taking note of the havoc caused by the dust storm, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed concerned officers to personally monitor relief operations and provide all necessary medical facilities to those affected. He also said that no laxity will be tolerated in providing succour to the needy, according to reports.

According to reports, the local administration said that the MeT department didn't give concrete information to ensure that a precautionary alert was sounded in time.