Bhubaneswar: At least five persons, including a woman and her son, were killed in two separate incidents of lightning strikes in Odisha’s Bargarh and Balangir districts today.

Three persons were killed and two others were critically-injured after lightning struck them at Dewandihi village under Bheden police limits in Bargarh district.

The deceased have been identified as Sukhdeb Banchhora, Niroj Kumbhar and Dhanurjaya Nayak. Maniram Lohar and Brunda Sahu have sustained critical injuries in the incident.

The five persons reportedly took shelter under a banyan tree when heavy rain lashed the locality in the afternoon. Three of them were killed at the spot and two others were critically-injured after lightning struck them.

The injured duo has been rushed to a government hospital at Padmapur.

In a related, a woman and her son were killed after lightning struck them in Khaprakhol area of Balangir district.

The deceased have been identified as Suryakanti Kharsel and Deepak Kharsel of Dhandamunda panchayat.

The incident took place while the mother-son duo was returning home from their farmland in the afternoon.