lighting strikes in the State on Friday again wreaked havoc and claimed as many as 15 lives while four other persons sustained critical injuries and were admitted to hospital.
Sources said six persons were killed in Baleswar district while five more deaths were reported from Mayurbhanj and Khordha districts.
In Baleswar, two persons of Barunagadia panchayat under Basta block were killed by lightning while they were working in a nearby field. Similarly, a youth succumbed to his injuries after being struck by lightning in Jaleswar block’s Sikharpur Mahulia village.
An elderly woman was killed in Singakhunta under Soro block while a girl from Srijanga village was injured.
A girl student of the Churuni Padmalochan High School also sustained injuries due to lightning.
In Mayurbhanj, a person was killed while working in his farmland at Chunadiha village under the Khunta police station of Udala. Another person succumbed to his injuries at Bada Salagaon village under Baisinga block and another died in Maheswarpur village after lightning struck him.
In Khordha district, lightning claimed the life of a person while two other got injured in Manikpur under Bolagarh block. Moreover, two persons were killed in Bargarh, one in Nuapada and one in Kendrapada district after lightning struck them.