Lightning kills 12 in Bengal

Twelve people were killed and six others seriously injured after being struck by lightning in West Bengal's Burdwan and Malda districts on Sunday, police said.

Twelve people were killed and six others seriously injured after being struck by lightning in West Bengal's Burdwan and Malda districts on Sunday, police said.

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While 10 were killed and six injured in Burdwan, two died in Malda, they said. In Burdwan, the deceased include a 15-year-old boy, a septuagenarian, a 22-year-old youth and seven people aged between 35 and 43, SP S M H Mirza said, adding that the six injured are in a hospital. Burdwan district magistrate OS Meena announced R2 lakh ex-gratia each for the families of the victims.

At Habibpur in Malda district, a 60-year-old woman and her 10-year-old grand daughter were killed when lightning struck them.