In a major tragedy, six youths were killed and 12 others injured when lightning struck them at Jaripada village near Kalupada under the Tangi police station in Khordha district on Wednesday afternoon.
According to reports, some youths of Jaripada were playing cricket on the outskirts of the village. They had taken shelter in a roadside house as rain suddenly lashed the area. All of a sudden, lightning struck the house killing four youths on the spot. Following information, police rushed to the spot and admitted the injured youths at the Tangi hospital, where two youths succumbed to their injuries.
The remaining injured youths were later shifted to the Khordha District Headquarters Hospital and the Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar in a 108 Ambulance after first aid treatment. Of the six deceased, three were identified as Rahul Nayak, Okila Khan and Bibhu Parida while the identities of the three others were not immediately known.
Hospital sources said the age of the deceased and injured would be around 10-21 years. Meanwhile, senior district officials, including the Collector and tehsildar, rushed to the Tangi hospital where the bodies of the six deceased were kept. The post-mortem examination of the bodies were latter conducted in the night. In the evening, Parliament Affairs Minister Bikram Keshari Arukh made a statement in the Assembly that family of each deceased would be given Rs 1.5 lakh as compensation and those injured would be provided free treatment.