Bhubaneswar, May 20: At least seven persons were killed and over 40 injured as a thunder squall lashed several parts of Orissa disrupting normal life, officials said today.
While three persons died due to wall collapse, three others were killed in lightning and another lost his life when a tree fell as the gale, accompanied by rains, swept Cuttack, Puri, Khurda, Keonjhar, Sundargarh, Mayurbhanj last night, they said.
Scores of trees were uprooted and hundreds of houses damaged in several slums of Rourkela steel city, district headquarter town Sundargarh and other parts of the district, the officials said.
In Sundergarh, two deaths due to wall collapse were reported in Vedvyas area on the outskirts of the steel city of Rourkela while another person died at Tilaimal Village due to lightning, they said.
Two persons died of lightning in Anandpur and Joda areas of Keonjhar district and another died when the mud wall of her house collapsed at Chandansia of Balasore district.
A trader was killed in Sriramnagar area of Khurda district as a huge uprooted tree fell on him, they said.
While at least 10 persons were injured in similar incidents in Khurda and Puri districts, about 30 people, engaged in preparation for a marriage reception at Birmitrapur, were injured when lightning struck the venue where a canopy was put up.
The gale, triggered by a cyclonic circulation, caused snapping of power and water supply for long hours in Rourkela and other towns throwing normal life out of gear, officials said.
——–PTI