15 killed in UP due to lightning

Lucknow, Mar 12 (UNI) At least 15 people were killed across the state today when they were hit by lightning, police said here.

A report from Ballia said Sumaru and Ramji Rajbhar were killed in village Sujayat Patsar after being struck by lightning. The two were returning home from their fields. Chandravati and Chuttu Yadav 12 were killed in village Malaygaon and Jalalpur in the same district after being struck by a thunderbolt.

Neelam Dubey and Chayya, 12 died in a hospital in Maharajganj district after being struck by lightning in Farenda area of the district this afternoon.

In Balrampur district, Ram Chabile and Barkau were killed following lightning.

A report from Varanasi said four people -- two each -- were killed in separate incidents of lightning. While Lalji and Munim were killed in Cholapur, Abhishek, 8 and Raja were killed in village Meerapur of the district.

In Mirzapur, Arvind was killed by thunderbolt in Narkaha village, while Shivkumar met a similar fate in Mehdia village.

In Ghazipur, a brick klin employee Subhash was killed in the Jaganpur area while 12 students received burns after lightning struck their school building in Soren village.

UNI