Lightning struck Tirumala hills which resulted in a fire burning a huge stretch of forest cover adjoining the Galigopuram point in Tirumala hills in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday evening. The forest belt of Alipiri, two km up from the foothills, went into flames. According to eyewitnesses, lightning struck the forest area around 6.45 pm with a deafening sound sending devotees walking on the footpath towards Tirumala into a shock for some minutes.
‘’We saw the lightning and immediately the forest went up in flames,’’ Jagadish, thesecretary of Vayalpadu market yard told Express.
The fire was raging till late in the night even as forest personnel were making efforts to put off the fire. A special team will ascertain whether the Galigopuram point suffered any damage in the thunderbolt.