Lightning strike during a football match in Odisha kills 2, injures 21 others

Bhubaneswar, Oct 10: At least two persons were killed and 21 others suffered burn injuries when lightning struck them during a football match in Odisha's Sundergarh district, police said.

One of the deceased was a football player while most of the injured people were spectators. The incident occurred during a local football match at Baneilata under the Nuagaon block of the district, about 350 km from the state capital, on Sunday.

Though the sky was cloudy, there was no rain in the area when lightning struck the playground, police said. Two persons were declared brought dead by a doctor at the Hatibari Community Health Centre (CHC) when they were taken there.

Police said 17 of the injured people were taken to Rourkela Government Hospital while the remaining four were under treatment at Hatibari CHC.

Meanwhile, the IMD in a forecast said that the state will witness rain on Monday and Tuesday due to a cyclonic circulation over the southwest Bay of Bengal.