As many as six people were killed in separate lightning incidents in Saptari and Makwanpur districts in the past 24 hours. Five other people who sustained serious injuries in the incidents are receiving treatment at Gajendranarayan Singh Hospital and Bhardaha Hospital in Saptari district.
Two people from Mahadev Rural Municipality in Saptari have died after being struck by lightning while bathing in the Saptakoshi river, said Deputy Superintendent of Police Tilak Bharati.
“Two other people from the same local unit have sustained critical injuries in the incident that occurred near the Koshi Barrage Bridge,” he said.
According to Bharati, one person each in Dakeshwori and Rajgadh of Saptari were also killed by lighting the same day while working in their fields. The Province 2 government has decided to provide Rs 100,000 each to the families of the four deceased in Saptari.
In Makwanpur, two people died after being hit by lightning in Bakaiya Rural Municipality on Wednesday night. A 14-year-old boy also sustained injuries in the incident. The lightning struck three houses in the settlement.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Indra Bahadur Rana said one person died on the spot while the other succumbed to injuries at a local health post. The injured teenager is receiving treatment at Dhiyal Health Post, said Rana. Two villagers in Bagmati Rural Municipality also sustained injuries after being hit by lightning.
Makwanpur is one of the lightning-prone districts in the country. As many as 75 people in the district have died due to lightning strikes in the past nine years; seven have died in the current fiscal year alone.
Last year, lightning strikes killed 89 people across the country. Jhapa, Morang, Ilam, Udayapur, Makwanpur, Rukum (West) and Dang districts are particularly prone to lightning incidents, data have shown.
The locals of these areas live in terror of lightning during the pre-monsoon and monsoon seasons every year.
“This area experiences deadly thunderstorms and lightning every year. Many villagers have lost their lives in lightning incidents,” said 57-year-old Krishna Bahadur Majhi of Bhirkot.
The Home Ministry data of seven years—from 2011/12 to 2018/19—has recorded 773 deaths and 1,695 injuries due to lightning strikes. In the same period, water-induced calamities like landslides and floods had claimed 730 and 665 lives, respectively. In terms of natural disasters, lightning strikes come second only to the 2015 earthquakes that killed nearly 9,000 people.
20.78°C Kathmandu
