BERHAMPUR: Three persons including two teenagers were killed in separate lightning strike incidents in Gajapati and Boudh districts on Friday.
In the first incident, Biswajit Mirdha (15) of Jhankarpada and Charan Kumbhar (15) of Chounriapadar village died after being struck by lightning in Manamunda area of Boudh.
Sources said the two teenagers were playing cricket at Jhankarpada when it started raining. They took shelter under a tamarind tree. However, lightning struck the tree, causing both the boys to collapse on the spot.
The duo was rushed to Manamunda community health centre and later shifted to Sonepur district headquarters hospital where doctors declared them dead.
Similarly in Gajapati district, Jiraj Raita (35) was killed while his younger brother Moses Raita (20) suffered injuries after being hit by lightning in Katama village of Anuguru panchayat under R Udayagiri police limits.
According to reports, the two brothers had gone to Anuguru gram panchayat office to collect PDS rice. While returning home, they were struck by lightning. While Jiraj died on the spot, locals rescued Moses and rushed him to R Udayagiri community health centre.