Mother-son duo among five killed in lightning strike in Odisha

Jharsuguda/Rairangpur: At least five persons were killed and two were injured after being struck by lightning in separate incidents in Jharsuguda and Mayurbhanj districts of Odisha today.

A woman and her son were killed when lightning struck them at Basupali under Banharpali police limits in Jharsuguda, sources said.

The deceased have been identified as Kasturi Rohidas (50) and her son Dolamani Rohidas (27) of Darlipali under Lakhanpur block in Jharsuguda.

The incident occurred when the mother-son duo was in Basupali to attend the 13-day ritual of a deceased relative. Another person, identified as Mahendra Rohidas, sustained grievous injuries in the incident, sources added.

Similarly, three persons, including a woman and her niece, were killed when lightning struck them in two separate incidents in Rairangpur area of Mayurbhanj district today.

According sources, Rani Munda (25), wife of Gopi Munda, and her niece Pana Munda (7) of Nimadihi under Bahalda police limits went to a village pond for bathing in the afternoon. Lightning struck Rani and Pana when they took shelter under a tree to save them from heavy rain. They died on the spot, sources said.

Rani’s daughter Leche, who was somewhere nearby, fell unconscious due to the lightning strike. She was rushed to Bahalda Community Health Centre (CHC) in a critical condition, sources added.

In another incident, Shyama Charan Purthy (31) of Barudihi village under Tiring police station died in lightening strike in the afternoon. The incident occurred when Purthy was returning home after grazing his cattle, villagers said.

Two separate cases of unnatural death have been registered in Bahalda and Tiring police stations and the bodies have been sent for postmortem.