Nischintakoili: Lightning strikes took two lives and injured another three in Nischintakoili block of Kendrapara district Tuesday.
The deceased have been identified as Maheswar Kandi (69) of Narajpur village and Jaldhar Das (49) of Palda village.
According to locals, Maheswar was working in the field at the time of mishap. Even though he rushed towards nearby Chachakhai temple for shelter, lightning struck him while he was on his way. Locals rushed him to the hospital but the doctors declared him as dead on arrival.
In another similar yet unrelated incident, Jaldhar died after lightning struck him while he was working in his field. He was also declared dead on arrival even though locals rushed him to the hospital.
These two apart, Jatadhari Lenka (64), Mandakini Behera (64) and Gopal Malla (65) of Ramakrushnapur panchayat were critically injured in lightning strike and are under treatment.