Eight people, including three minors, were killed while half a dozen were injured after being struck by lightning in Sonbhadra and Balrampur districts.
Reports said that five people, including two minors, were killed and two others were injured after being struck by lightning in three different villages of Sonbhadra district on Thursday.
According to police, the deceased included Krishna Gopal Singh (58) and Golu alias Chandan (25), both of Preet Nagar in the Chopan area, Algu (60) and Umesh Agariya (14) of Sinduria, and Utkarsh Mishra (12) of Paika area of the district.
Besides, Raju Tiwari (48) and Atma Tiwari (40), both residents of Mahilpur under Jugail police station were injured after being struck by lightning.
According to reports, on Thursday five people were sitting under a thatch in the field of Bindu Pandey near Sinduria bridge when lightning struck killing Algu, Krishna Gopal Singh and Golu on the spot, and injuring Raju Tiwari and Atma Tiwari.
The second incident occurred in Sinduria village, at Tola Bakhador, where Umesh Agariya (14) was sitting in front of his house when lightning struck him, killing him on the spot.
The third incident was reported from the Paika area of the district where Utkarsh Mishra (12), who was on the terrace of his house, was struck by lightning, and he died instantly.
In another incident, at least three people lost their lives and four others were injured due to lightning in Balrampur district. The injured were admitted to Wadrafnagar community health centre.
Reports said it rained heavily in the Wadrafnagar development block of Balrampur district on Thursday evening and lightning struck at three different places.
Five women, a girl (12) and another girl (18) who went to pick mahua string were struck by lightning. While three women died on the spot, four were seriously injured and they were admitted to the Wadrafnagar community health centre.
The deceased were identified as Anita Gupta, Kesh Kumari and Pinky.
Meanwhile, in Chandauli district, six members of a family were injured when lightning struck their mud house in a village. They were admitted to the district hospital in Chandauli.