RAJNANDGAON: Eight persons, including five boys, were killed in a lightning strike near a village in Chhattisgarh's Rajnandgaon district on Monday amid heavy rains, police said.
The incident, in which a man was also injured, took place at around 2 pm near Joratarai village under the Somni police station area where the victims had taken shelter under a structure on the roadside, Rajnandgaon Superintendent of Police Mohit Garg told PTI.
As per preliminary information, after heavy showers started, a group of persons, including some minors, rushed to save themselves from rains and took shelter under the structure where a lightning struck them, he said.
"Eight persons died in the lightning strike of which four were students of Classes XI and XII at a government school in nearby Mudhipar village.
They were returning home on bicycles after appearing in quarterly exams.
The fifth boy among the deceased had come to pick one of the schoolchildren when the tragedy struck," Garg informed.
After being alerted about the incident, senior administration and police officials rushed to the spot.
The bodies were shifted to a government hospital in Rajnandgaon for post-mortem examination, while the injured man was admitted to the medical facility for treatment, the police officer said.
Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai expressed grief over the tragedy, while the district administration announced a financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh each to the kin of the deceased.
Sai conveyed his deepest condolences to the families of the deceased and directed the administration to immediately provide financial aid to the next of the kin and make arrangements for the treatment of the injured person, an official statement said.