Five persons were killed after they were struck by lightning in separate incidents after sudden thundershowers lashed parts of Andhra Pradesh on Sunday.
The deaths were recorded at Brahmanapalli in Gopavaram mandal of Kadapa, Maddikera in Kurnool district, Mannegunta at Venkatagiri mandal in Nellore district and Dakkali also in Nellore district. Seven others were injured at Santipuram in Chittoor.
Heavy rain lashed the Rayalaseema districts including Chittoor, Kurnool, Kadapa and Anantapur, accompanied by strong gales. Two persons sustained injuries while at least 45 goats perished at Kalthur of KVB Puram mandal in Chittoor district. Thunderstorms in Tirupati led to traffic jams and power shutdown as several trees and electric poles got uprooted.
Comment: Elsewhere in India over the weekend 2 were killed by lightning in Jamshedpur, with another 3 fatalities in Odisha.