Four injured in lightning strike in Bhojpur

Ara: Torrential rain on Friday morning, accompanied by high-intensity squall, wreaked havoc in the Bhojpur district, throwing normal lives haywire. While four people, including two middle-aged women and their two teen-aged daughters, sustained burn injuries in a lightning strike on a thatched house at Chauri village same police station area, the Ara-Sasaram state highway witnessed traffic jam as a huge Neem tree fell on the road under Udwantnagar police station on Friday morning during high-intensity squall and heavy rain in the district. The thatched house also caught fire in the incident, which was doused by the collective efforts of the villagers.Those injured in the lightning strike at Chauri have been identified as Geeta Devi (40), wife of Janki Ram, and her daughter Lachhmina Kumari, and Bateshra Devi (35) and her teen-aged daughter Gorki Kumari. The injured were rushed by the villagers to the Sahar CHC, where they are undergoing treatment. According to doctors at the CHC, Lachhmina Kumari has sustained serious injuries in the incident.“The sound of the lightning strike was so high-pitched and deafening that the four persons who were present inside the affected thatched house were completely dazed for a while due to the shock. The thatched house caught fire, which was extinguished somehow by the villagers,” said Kamlesh Kumar, one of the residents of Chauri.Chauri SHO Rakesh Kumar Singh also said that some of the persons present inside the house got injured due to the high impact of the lightning strike. “Some of the injured persons have shifted to some other hospitals without informing the police. The police are trying to locate where they are undergoing treatment at present,” said the SHO.