UP: Lightning kills two in Deoria, one in Sant Kabir Nagar

Deoria/Sant Kabir Nagar (UP), Jun 30 (PTI) Three people, including a priest and a 17-year-old girl, died in separate incidents of lighting, which also left eleven others injured, on Sunday in Deoria district, police said.

SHO of Deoria's Kotwali police station, Ved Prakash Sharma, said one of the incidents happened around 1.00 pm when it was raining heavily in the area.

Some people, including the temple priest, had taken shelter in the temple at the Goplapur village under Kotwali police station when lightning struck the structure.

The lightning was so strong that it burnt a hole in the temple's roof, and those who had taken shelter were hit, Sharma said.

Temple priest Radheshyam Giri (50) got electrocuted, he said, adding seven other people sustained serious burn injuries.

They are undergoing treatment at medical college, the officer said.

In the second incident, Rajnath Kushwaha (40) was struck by lightning when he was sowing paddy in his fields. He died on the spot.

District Magistrate of Deoria Akhand Pratap Singh said the relatives of the deceased and the injured will be provided government assistance as per the rules.

In the third incident, in Sant Kabir Nagar, a 17-year-old girl died, and four other girls were injured when lightning struck village Chata under the Dudhra police station area on Sunday, police said.

Circle Officer Brijesh Singh said the deceased was identified as Sayama (17).

On Sunday noon, she, along with her four friends, had gone to a mango orchard when lightning struck. Sayama died while her four friends were injured. They were admitted to a local hospital, and after some time, two were discharged, while the other two were referred to Gorakhpur Medical College for treatment. PTI COR NAV HIG HIG