BHUBANESWAR: At least 40 persons were killed and 35 injured in lightning at different places in twelve districts of the State on Saturday. The casualties were reported from Bhadrak, Balasore, Khurda, Mayurbhanj, Jajpur, Cuttack, Kendrapara, Keonjhar, Nayagarh, Sambalpur, Jharsuguda and Puri districts.
Official sources said the death toll is considered to be highest on a single day this year after June 2 when 18 persons were killed and 15 injured in separate places in the State.
Bhadrak and Balasore districts were worst hit with eight and seven death cases respectively, followed by five in Khurda, four in Cuttack, three in Jajpur and two in Nayagarh.
Most of the cases were reported from the northern and coastal districts which also experienced heavy rainfall soon after the lightning struck.
In Bhadrak district, two persons were killed each in Chandabali, Tihidi, Agarpada and Bhadrak Rural police station areas while two others were seriously injured after they were struck by lightning in Bisalapatta village under Bonth block.
The deceased are Harihar Jena, Sanatan Jena of Bisalpatta village, Deeparani Pradhan, Basanti Jena of Panibhandar village, Musa Mahalik, Padmini Malik of Balichaturi village, Rabindra Behera of Manipur and Trilochan Mohanty of Matto village.
In Balasore, four persons, including two siblings and a woman from Jaleswar area and three from Soro area were killed in lightning while they were busy in paddy sapling transplantation activities in their respective fields.
The deceased were identified as Aswini Kumar Jena of Churmara village, Sabita Majhi of Paikasida village, Pankaj Kumar Rout and his brother Arun Kumar Rout of Namakana village under Jaleswar police limits, Ajay Jena and Padmolochan Jena of Angula village and Gajendra Patra of Jagannathpur village under Soro police limits.
Altogether 19 persons, including 17 from Jaleswar and one each from Nilagiri and Soro were critically hurt. They have been admitted in local hospitals.
Six persons from Rasgobindpur, Suliapada, Saraskana and Thakurmunda areas of Mayurbhanj were killed while working in paddy field. Relatives of Jagyaseni Patra (14), a Class-IX student of Digipur village buried her body in cow-dung for nearly five hours with a hope that she may come alive. She was struck by lightning while attending nature's call.
In Khurda district, five persons, including four from Sundarpur area and one from Jamujhari village were killed as lightning struck on them. The deceased persons from Sundarpur belonged to fishermen community. Eight persons from Balipatpur were also hurt.
In Jajpur, one each from Panikoili, Mangalpur and Dharmasala died while death of a student in Haripur village under Sarankul police limits in Nayagarh district sent shocking waves in the locality. He was struck by lightning while returning home from school.
Similarly, one death each was reported from Balia village under Ranpur in Nayagarh, Dantia village in Keonjhar, Laikera in Sambalpur, Nakshapalli in Jharsuguda, Sathilo in Puri and Mahakalpada in Kendrapara.
Lightning seems to be one of the biggest calamities in the State with killing over 300 persons every year. While 396 people were killed in 2015-16, 308 casualties were reported in 2014-15, followed by 372 in 2013-14, 294 in 2012-13 and 359 in 2011-12.
Expressing his grief over the deaths, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has directed the Special Relief Commissioner to provide ex-gratia as per the State relief code.