Lightening kills 9 in Kolkata, Bihar

Kolkata: Monsoons has reached eastern parts of the country but the rains have also struck disaster in Ranchi and Kolkata, where 9 people have been killed due to lightning strike.

The very first showers of monsoon in Jharkhand made the mercury plummet by a few degrees. But instead of joy and relief, all that the rains have brought for the villages near Ranchi is grief and trauma. Six children were killed in a lightning strike at the Greenfield Residential School in Rampur while 12 were injured. The lightning struck the roof of the building when the children were moving out of their classes.

“It was break time when the lightning struck. Many of us were inside the classrooms because it was raining very heavily. Soon heavy current flew into the classroom walls and those stuck inside could not escape,” said a school student who witnessed the horror.

The local administration has announced a compensation of Rs 50,000 for families of the dead. “The children were already dead when they were brought to the hospital. Their bodies have now being sent for a postmortem,” said N N Agarwal Director, RIMS.

Heavy rains have spelt trouble in West Bengal too. Three people were killed and 4 injured in lightning in Keshtopur, on the outskirts of Kolkata. At Sraddhananda Park, twi persons were electrocuted as lightning struck an electric pole.

After six-hours of relentless rain on Wednesday morning, the city resembled a water-world. Most of the roads were blocked and people were stuck in traffic jams at most places. “Kolkata is flooded completely. We are facing lot of trouble,” said one of the commuters.

The worst affected areas were Theatre road, Camac Street, Sealdah Ultadanga Underpass and Salt Lake. Train services in the Sealdah and Howrah Division were also hit.

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