Three youths were killed in lightning strike while they were watching a friendly football match in Odisha's Sundargarh district on Sunday.
As per reports, the football match was organised between two villages at a playing ground in Tumaran Birual under Brahmanitarang police station in Lathikata block of the district on the occasion of Biswakarma Puja on the day.
Hundreds of villagers from nearby villages thronged the ground to watch the friendly match. The three youths - Vishal Bilung of Lathikata, Shanti Prakash Lakra of Manco and Sunit Oram of Banei - also came to the place. They were watching the match sitting on a motorcycle under a tree.
At around 4 pm, there was thunderstorm along with lightning and heavy rain in the area. While the three youths along with other villagers were under the tree to protect themselves from the heavy rain, lightning struck. On the impact of the lightning, all the three youths died on the spot and several villagers sustained injuries.
On being informed, a team from Brahmanitarang police station went to the spot and sent the bodies for post-mortem. The injured villagers were rushed to Rourkela Government Hospital (RGH) for treatment. The police have registered a case and started investigation.
Comment: Related report from 4 days prior: Pakistan warns of urban flooding, river surges - 63 die in 24 hours - cloudburst dumps 16.6 inches of rain