Brother,sister killed in lightning strike in Odisha’s Balasore on Rakhi day

Balasore: The festival of Raksha Bandhan on Monday turned into a tragedy for two families of Mandagaon village under Khantapada police limits in Odisha’s Balasore district after two persons were killed and two others injured when they were struck by lightning on the day.

The deceased have been identified as 15 -year-old Sushant Dalei and 12-year old Asha Behera of the village.

According to reports, Asha, daughter of Bhaskar Behera, visited  Niranjan Dalei’s house at noon to tie rakhi  to latter’s son, Suhant. After the girl tied rakhi on his wrist, the family members decided to have lunch together.

As ill luck would have it, lightning struck the house where they were taking their lunch to mark the occasion, killing the brother and sister on the spot .

Two others, identified as Bijay Pradhan and his wife Rangalata Pradhan,  of the village also suffered severe injuries due to the lightning strike. The couple were rushed to the community health centre (CHC), Khantapara. Their condition was stated to be critical, when the last reports came in.

A pal of gloom has been descended on the village following the untimely death of two young brother and sister.

The Met department has forecast thunderstorm with lightning in some places of the district till tomorrow morning.