(HT)
At least 8 people were killed and as many sustained injuries after they were struck by lightning in Kushinagar and Deoria districts on Sunday, officials said. While five people lost their lives in Kushinagar district, three were killed in Deoria, administrative officials said.
Expressing grief over the loss of lives in the natural calamity, chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who was in Gorakhpur, announced ₹4 lakh ex gratia each to next of kin of the deceased. He directed district magistrates of the two districts to provide all assistance to the families of the deceased and ensure best treatment for those injured.
In Kushinagar, three women, identified as Subhavati, 50, Hasibun Nisha, 48, and Manju Devi, 50, were killed after being hit by lightning in Panchphera village under Nebua Naurangia police station while they had taken shelter under a shed with their cattle. In Tari Sujan village of the district, a boy Guddu, 5, was killed when the lightning struck while he was playing near his house. In another incident under Kushinagar’s Kaptanganj police station, one Mithilesh Sharma who age could not be established was killed.
Jitendra Singh, the police station in charge of Barhaj in Deoria district, said Guddu, 5, who died in a Kushinagar village had gone to his maternal grandparents’ place where the incident took place. He hailed from Barhaj town of Deoria. As soon as the news of his death reached his family, his grandfather also died due to shock, he added.
District magistrate, Kushinagar, Umesh Mishra along with SP Dhawal Jaiswal rushed to Kaptanganj community health centre to take stock of the situation of the five injured people and assured them of all assistance. In Deoria district, lightning struck Kalyani village of Salempur where Sandeep Yadav, 20, and Pankaj Yadav, 22, were killed while they were working in their paddy field. One Prahlad Prasad lost his life in Barhaj town of the district in a similar incident. Three other suffered minor injuries in the incidents there.
