Three family members were killed by a lightning strike while they were working in a farmland at Kondhaputabandh village of Amphabali panchayat under the Pottangi block in Koraput district, on Wednesday.

The deceased persons included Gemel Krishna, his daughter Gemel Kami, and their female relative Gemel Tumbai, official sources said.

According to the sources, the incident occurred when a sudden downpour accompanied by thunder and lightning in the morning prompted Krishna and Kami to seek shelter under a

Elsewhere in the farmland, Tumbai, who was also working, was struck and died instantly.

The bereaved family was on their way back home when this calamity struck.

Close shave for Krishna’s wife

Krishna’s wife Gemel Walsi had a narrow escape as she had left the farmland and reached home before the downpour.

Worth mentioning, earlier in another incident, a lightning strike tragically claimed the lives of a man and his son in Kishorenagar block of Angul district, on Tuesday.

The incident occurred as heavy rains lashed the locality, prompting four labourers to take refuge under a tree. Unfortunately, the lightning struck, resulting in the immediate demise of the father-son duo at the scene.

With a trough running from East Uttar Pradesh and adjoining Bihar to south Odisha across Chhattisgarh, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) regional centre has forecasted that thunderstorms with lightning are very likely to occur in the afternoon/evening hours at one or two places over the districts of Odisha, during the next two days.

The IMD issued a Yellow Warning in some districts till 0830 hrs IST of May 16.

large tree. Unfortunately, both were killed by a lightning strike.