Purnia (Bihar): Three members of a family died after being hit by lightning in Sighada Patti village under Dhamdaha police limits in Bihar's Purnia district on Sunday afternoon.
The deceased persons have been identified as Kailash Mandal (60), his daughter-in-law, Nibha Devi (20) and younger son, Dilkhush (14) of the same village.
According to sources, The trio was working in their garden at around 1:30 pm today when rain accompanied by thunderbolt lashed the area.
They ran for cover and took shelter under a burflower tree when lightning hit them, killing the trio on the spot. The burflower tree was also burnt in the lightning.
On being informed about the incident, Dhamdaha police reached the spot, recovered the bodies and sent them to the district headquarters hospital for postmortem.
A pall of gloom descended on Sighada Patti village following the three peoples' tragic death. Meanwhile, weathermen have cautioned people to remain alert with regard to lightning strikes expected over the next couple of days as well.
More than 160 people have died due to lightning strikes in the state in the past three weeks. The highest number of 83 people were killed in lightning strikes in 23 districts on June 25.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed grief over the death of 10 persons due to lightning strikes, an official release said, adding "he was with the families of victims of lightning in the hour of disaster".
Kumar directed payment of Rs 4 lakh as ex-gratia to next of the kin of each deceased. The chief minister appealed to the people of the state to remain vigilant and stay indoors as far as possible during the bad weather.
He also asked people to follow advisories issued by the Disaster Management Department in this regard.
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