At least two persons were killed and 21 others sustained burn injuries when lightning struck them during a football match in Odisha's Sundergarh district on Sunday, police said.
The incident took place during a local football match at Baneilata under the Nuagaon block of the district, about 350 km from the state capital. One of the deceased was a football player, the police said, adding that most of the injured persons were spectators.
Though the sky was cloudy there was no rain in the area when lightning struck the playground, the police said. The two persons were declared brought dead by a doctor at the Hatibari Community Health Centre (CHC), police said, adding that 17 of the injured persons were rushed to Rourkela Government Hospital while the remaining four were under treatment at Hatibari CHC.
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Meanwhile, the IMD in its forecast said that the state will encounter rainfall activities for two more days due to a cyclonic circulation over the southwest Bay of Bengal. Weather scientist Umashankar Dash of the Regional Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar said that heavy rainfall is very likely to occur at one or two places over the districts of Cuttack, Khurda, Puri, Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, Koraput.
Thunderstorms with lightning are very likely to occur at one or two places over the districts of Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Cuttack, Khurda, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Nayagarh, Ganjam, Gajapati, Dhenkanal, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Angul, Boudh, Kandhamal, Rayagada, Malkangiri, and Koraput till Monday morning.
The IMD has also forecast thunderstorms with lightning very likely to occur at one or two places over the districts of Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Khurda, Nayagarh, Ganjam, Gajapati, Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Mayurbhanj and Dhenkanal on Tuesday morning.
The unfortunate football incident happens just days after a stampede in Indonesia where more than 100 people were killed in a local derby. The unfortunate incident also attracted plenty of attention as UEFA held a minute's silence in every Champions League game on Matchday 3.
