Six killed as lightning strikes parts of Bengal, city likely to witness rain

Kolkata: Six persons were killed after being struck by lightning in three separate incidents in the districts of Nadia, Bankura and Howrah.

The incident took place on Wednesday morning when a thunder shower lashed various South Bengal districts. Lightning struck four persons including two brothers in Nadia leading to their deaths. While in separate incidents of lightning, two persons were killed in Bankura and Howrah each.

According to Nadia police, the victims were all working in a field at Noamile in Nadia on Wednesday morning when the thundershowers started. The victims are Kalachand Seikh (60), Kamal Seikh (50), Najizul Seikh (30) and Azizul Seikh (25). Najizul and Azizul were two bothers. In another incident, a 58-year-old Kartin Soren was ploughing in Bankura's Sarenga when he was struck by lightning. The third incident occurred in Howrah's Panchla. The victim has been identified as Urmila Mondal (42) who was returning home from field work.

The district administrations took prompt action to restore normalcy following the incidents. There was heavy rainfall in some districts for hours causing water logging.

Some of the roads became inundated. Nadia and Murshidabad witnessed a storm accompanied by moderate to heavy rainfall causing inconvenience to the commuters. It started raining from 11 am in some districts.

The rain accompanied by storm, however, provided relief to the people in these districts as it brought down the temperatures by a few notches.

The sky remained overcast in North 24-Parganas, South 24-Parganas and also in the city in the morning hours. The city also received light rainfall on Wednesday morning.

According to the weather office, a cyclonic circulation formed over the state that caused rains in the districts.

There is also a possibility of thundershowers in the South Bengal districts during the evening in the next few days, the Met department predicted.

It may be mentioned here that rain lashed some parts of North 24-Parganas, South 24-Parganas, Nadia, Hooghly and Kolkata on Wednesday evening. The Regional Meteorological Centre in Alipore predicted that it may rain in the city and adjoining areas, accompanied by storm in the next 24 hours.

According to a weather expert, a strong moisture-laden wind which is blowing from the sea, turned the conditions favourable for a storm.