Eight persons including five boys were killed and a man was injured on Monday after lightning struck them in a village in Rajnandgaon district in Chhattisgarh.
The deceased were Piyush Sahu, Paras Sahu, Shashikant Sahu, Ravi Patel, Anil Kumar, Nitin Dhankar, Pardeshi Vishwakarma and Churaman Dewangan, Rajnandgaon Superintendent of Police Mohit Garg said.
The incident took place at around 2 pm near Joratarai village when the victims took shelter under a structure on the roadside.
As heavy rains started, a group of people including some minors also took shelter under the structure where the lightning hit them.
Four of the persons who died were students of Classes XI and XII at a government school in nearby Mudhipar village. They were returning home after appearing in quarterly exams.
The fifth boy among the deceased had come to pick one of the schoolchildren.
The injured man who was admitted to a medical facility was said to be out of danger.
Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai announced a financial aid of Rs 4 lakh the kin of each deceased.
