Lighting kills four in Balangir

Balangir: At least four persons died and eight others injured when lightning struck them at Patnagarh in Odisha's Balangir district today, police said.

The deceased were identified as Sitaram Jal(50), Menaka Jal(16), Premananda Bhoi(23) and Gangadhar Putel(19).

The injured were admitted at the sub-divisional hospital at Patnagarh. The incident occurred while more than 100 labourers were working on a field.

Patnagarh SDPO Pradipta Mohapatra and Tehsildar Amiya Sahu, block chairperson Bhakta Bandhu Naik and NAC chairperson Manas Manjari Panigrahi rushed to the hospital and oversaw the treatment of the victims.

Expressing grief over the incident, Patnagarh MLA and state BJP president K V Singhdeo demanded adequate compensation for the victims families.