Image
Three persons were killed and 12 were seriously injured when lightning struck a boat carrying 20 pilgrims from Belur Math in Howrah to Dakshineswar in North 24-Parganas across the river on Sunday afternoon. The incident happened near Nivedita Setu, a bridge parallel to the old rail bridge across the River Hooghly, near Bally Badamtala around 3.35pm.

Other boats, which were passing through the route, immediately informed police and fire brigade. A team from Bally police station rushed to the spot and rescued the passengers of the thunder-struck boat.

The pilgrims were rushed to Belur Shramajibi Hospital, where three were declared brought dead. They are Bikash Kaiputra (27), Panchu Kaiputra (45) and Seema Kaiputra (32). All of them are from the same family.

Some of the 12 injured passengers were later shifted to Howrah State General Hospital, RG Kar Hospital and SSKM Hospital. The condition of at least four of them, including two children, are reported to be critical. They are Raju Kaiputra, Megha Kaiputra, Mithu Kaiputra and Jayanta Naskar.

The 20 pilgrims from Chowbari, Kaiputrapara at Duttapukur in North 24-Parganas set out in the morning for Dakshineswar temple complex. After offering puja at the temple, they had left for Belur Math, the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission.

In the afternoon, they again left for Dakshineswar by boat from where they supposed to catch a bus back home.

"Cloud was already gathering in the sky when the boat set sail from Belur. But it was not dense enough. But a blinding light hit us all of a sudden. We felt the boat might capsize and we might all be drowned," said passenger Anil Kaiputra.

"Even the boatman was partially hit by the thunderstorm and fell unconscious. Most people could not see anything for a while. All the passengers were traumatized and panic-stricken. Later, we found that some passing boats had gathered around to rescue us," he added.

The boat was then taken to Deongazi ghat.

Irrigation minister Rajib Banerjee and agriculture marketing minister Arup Roy rushed to the spot in the evening. They assured all kind of assistance to the injured.

"The state government will bear the cost of the treatment of all the injured persons. It will also pay for the last rites of those who died. The victims will also receive their due compensation at the earliest," said Banerjee.

Source: TNN