Chikiti: A lightning strike killed one person and injured two others Wednesday afternoon near K. Nuagaon on the banks of the Bahuda river in Chikiti block of Ganjam district, officials said. The deceased was identified as Bailadu Sethi, 40, from Birasingh Bijayalakshmi Narayanpur (Saru Sandhigaon) village in Lalmenta panchayat. E. Bhaskar Pradhan, 45, from Nuasahi Colony in Gadagobindpur village under Digapahandi block, was seriously injured and transferred from Chikiti Community Health Center to MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur for treatment. According to police, Sethi, Pradhan, and others were loading sand onto a tractor near the Bahuda River when rain and lightning struck.
The lightning hit Sethi and Pradhan, rendering them unconscious. Local residents rushed them to Chikiti hospital, where doctors pronounced Sethi dead. K. Nuagaon police seized the body and are investigating the incident. In a separate incident, Ranjana Sahu, 45, from Bholasingi village in Kalabad panchayat, was injured by lightning while planting paddy in a field near her village. Locals took her to Chikiti hospital, and she was later transferred to MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur for further treatment
