Six killed in lightning strikes

Gadchiroli/Nashik: Six persons were killed when lightning struck them in separate incidents in Maharashtra, officials said today.

In the first incident, four persons were killed after being struck by lightning in Dhanur village in Gadchiroli district last evening, District Disaster management officer Krishna Reddy told PTI.

A group of 13 villagers were attending a ‘pooja’ at an agricultural farm when lightning struck them, he said.

All the 13 injured were rushed to a government health centre in Aheri, where four were declared brought dead, Reddy added.

The deceased have been identified as Sandip Khusnake (30), Ritesh Kinake (25) Jankiram Todsam (43) and Shyamrao Kanake (58), the official added.

According to him, Rs four lakh compensation would be given to the kin of the deceased.

Meanwhile, a 45-year-old farmer Raghunath Maval (45) and his son Mayur (17), resident of village Chondhi in Nashik district, were today killed when a lightning struck them in an agricultural field when they were working, police said.

Raghunath’s nephew Prashant also sustained injuries in the incident and was admitted to a private hospital at Sinnar, a senior police official said.

—PTI