2 killed, dozen injured in lightning strike during Rath Yatra fair in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand

Ranchi (IANS) | Two teenagers were killed, while a dozen people were injured, during the Rath Yatra fair on Tuesday at the Jagannath hill temple at Silwar in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand. With this, 14 people have lost their lives in lightning incidents in the last 24 hours in Jharkhand. It was told that preparations were on to take out the rath yatra from the hill temple at Silwar at 7 pm. Thousands of devotees had gathered near the temple. Meanwhile, there was a sudden thunderclap on the banyan tree near the temple. Temple priest Vijay Pandey’s son Sudhanshu alias Dhoni (14 years) and Arun Kumar (15 years) died on the spot, while a dozen people were injured. All the injured have been admitted to Sheikh Bhikhari Medical College Hospital. The injured include Bhola Rana (20 years), Somar Murmu (18 years), Kumar (13 years), Akash Verma, Pramila Devi and others.

In a hurry, the injured were taken to the hospital by ambulance and other vehicles. In Meru, two km away from Silwar, four people were reported injured in a lightning strike at 6 pm. Let us inform that in the last 24 hours, three people each died in Gumla and Hazaribagh, two each in Ramgarh, Ranchi, Khunti and Simdega in incidents of lightning.

–IANS