Rourkela: In a tragic incident, two persons were killed and 11 others sustained serious injuries when lightning struck them during a football match at Parba village of Jharkhand, just 10 km from Hatibari police station of Sundargarh district Monday evening.
Dineswar Ganju of Parba died on the field while Basudev Ganju (18) of Purunapani area died on his way to Rourkela General Hospital (RGH).
Meanwhile, the injured persons were admitted to Hatibari community health centre (CHC). After preliminary treatment, they were shifted to RGH where their condition became serious.
Among the injured were Amar Tiga (17), Rahul Dhanuar (17), Biki Shah (21), Suria Dhanuar (14), Binod Tiga (18), Ajay Kusuma (15), Raju Bankar (17), Suraj Majhi (16) and Jalandhar Ganju (45). The name of the last two injured was not known immediately.
Sources said, a football match was arranged in in Jharkhand-Odisha border village Parba. Many people from Hatibari and Purunipani of Sundargarh district had gone to witness the football tournament at around 5 pm.
The mishap took place during interval of the match when the players had assembled in the field. Heavy rainfall accompanied by gusty surface wind and thunderstorm hit the village. All of a sudden, lightning struck the ground.
Luckily, locals who had gone to witness the match had a close shave. The incident spread panic among spectators who ran helter-skelter to save their lives.
After getting information, a fire tender team and local police reached the village and rescued the injured. Tension ran high after no doctors were present at Hatibari CHC.
PNN
