Bhubaneswar: At least seven persons including two siblings were killed in lightning in various parts of Balasore, Bhadrak and Keonjhar districts Monday night.
Anand Das and Mathura Das were killed while they were working on their farmland in Tihidi block and Chandbali. Ramakant Bej was killed while he was buying wood at Shastri Ghat in Chandbali.
Similarly, Nityananda Biswal of Arabandha village under Nilagiri block was struck by lightning fury while he was using fertilizer on his crops. Two cousins namely Susant Dalei, 15, and Asha Behera, 12, were killed due to lightning in Remuna block.
Sources said, Asha Behera (12) of Manda had gone to tie rakhi to her brother Sushant Dalai on the occasion of Rakhsa Bandhan. Both Asha and Sushant were having meals when lightning struck their house. Asha and Sushant died while two others sustained critical injuries in the lightning strike.
Chandra Mund, a farmer of Champua bloc in Keonjhar district was also killed in lightning.
Three other deaths were reported from Bhadrak district. The deaths were reported form Chandbali Mathasahi, Sashtri ghat and Paitipur village under Govindpur panchayat of the district.
PNN