Lightning kills 20 in AP

Nellore/Guntur/Prakasam/Krishna: As many as 20 people were struck dead by lightning and 13 others were injured in various incidents in four districts of the state which witnessed widespread heavy rains on Sunday.

Seven persons were killed in Nellore district alone, one in Guntur, four in Prakasam and four others in Krishna district. A number of electricity poles and hundreds of trees were uprooted in these districts. In Nellore, six persons were struck dead by lightning.

Two deaths are reported from East Godavari and one each from Anantapur and Srikakulam. At Patha Bitragunta in Bogole mandal, Challa Chinavenkaiah was struck dead by lightning while he was grazing sheep in agriculture fields.

Similarly, a farmer, Prasad (30) of Racharlapadu village in Kodavalur mandal, who was grazing his sheep near Talamanchi, was hit by lightning. At north Kondayapalem in Varikuntapadu mandal, Nageswara Rao (44), who was collecting fodder for cattle, was hit by lightning. At Ballavolu in Chillakur mandal, Uppura Ramanaiah was killed when lightning struck the tree under which he had taken shelter during rain.

Similarly, at Pudiparthi village in Venkatachalam mandal, Syda Venkata Rao (32) and his son Kumar (12) from Srikakulam district, who were working in an aqua pond, were killed in lightning strike. In another incident at Sapthagiri Colony, one person died and three others were injured when the ceiling of the house collapsed.

In another incident, two people were injured in lightning strike at Enugulabavi village in Bogole mandal. In Guntur district, lightning killed one person and injured four others. The incident occurred when Bandaru Ananda Rao (55) was grazing cattle in agriculture fields at Dondapadu village in Narsannapeta mandal.

He was killed on the spot while four others working close to the field sustained injuries. They were admitted to a government hospital. In Prakasam district, four persons were killed in lightning strike. A bore-well worker from Jharkhand, Satish died on the spot while he was working in the field at Vemalakota in Markapuram mandal.

In another incident, two women of same family, Venkata Subbamma and Ramanamma were struck dead by lightning at Ganugapenta village of Tarlupadu. At Siddhareddy Palle in Marripudi mandal, Chenna Reddy, a farmer, was struck dead by lightning while working in his farm.

In Krishna district, two persons died after being struck by lightning. The deceased were identified as Gurajala Jagadish and Battula Giribabu. According to tahsildar Sivakumar, lightning struck the tree under which six villagers had taken shelter at Kunaparajuparava village in Reddygudem mandal on Sunday evening.

Two of them died on the spot and two others were injured. The injured were admitted to a hospital at Nuzvid. In another incident, one person was killed by lightning at Kokanarayanapuram of Gudur mandal, while another woman died after being struck by lightning at Chinnagollapalem of Machilipatnam mandal.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has held a teleconference with District Collectors of East and West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam, Nellore, Chittoor and Anantapur to take stock of the situation due to the heavy rains that lashed the state.

Expressing shock over the death of people struck by thunderbolts, he directed the Collectors to immediately pay Rs 4 lakh towards compensation. And, asked the district administration to be on high alert to meet any eventuality following the rain forecast indicating heavy rains for next 24 hours.

By Team Hans