Four killed in lightning strike in Chhattisgarh

Four people, including two brothers, were killed in separate incidents of lightning strike during rain and thunderstorm in northern part of Chhattisgarh, police said on Sunday.

A 16-year-old boy and his younger brother, aged eight years, died after lightning struck them on Saturday while they were standing under a mango tree near their house at Dhandhapur-Shivpur village in Balrampur district, a local police official said.

The siblings had gone to pluck mangoes when suddenly rainfall coupled with thunderstorm occurred in the area.

The bodies were handed over to their family members after the post-mortem at the district hospital, he said.

In another incident, a 17-year-old girl and her 18- year-old cousin sister were struck by lightning while they were taking bath at a farm behind their house at Jilga Nawadih village in Korba on Saturday, Shyang police station house officer Niladhar Rathore said.

The siblings were rushed to a nearby community health centre where they were declared brought dead, he said.

Cases were registered in connection with the two incidents, the police added.