Lucknow: A 14-year-old girl died and four of her relatives were injured in a lightning strike in an Indirapuram village on Friday morning.
Ajmerun and the others — three aunts and a cousin — had stepped out of home in Makanpur village when it started to rain. They took shelter under a tree near a temple when a bolt of lightning struck them. Ajmerun, police said, died on the spot while the others suffered grievous burns.
Police said Ajmerun’s family had been living in Makanpur for the past 12 years and her father, Parvez, was a cart puller.
Her uncle, Naseem, said the girl died around 8.30am. “Her aunts and cousin were headed for work at a construction site in Indirapuram. Ajmerun was on her way to a grocery store when it started to rain. They found a tree nearby that had its branches spread out. Moments after they had taken shelter under it, they were struck by lightning. Ajmerun had severe burns in the head and face and died on the spot,” he added.
Ajmerun was to turn 15 on September 28. “She had completed Class 7 when the pandemic struck. As his father lost his job during lockdown, her family pulled her out of school because of financial constraints. They were planning to celebrate her 15th birthday at home,” Naseem said.
Swatantra Singh, ACP (Indirapuram), said a police team visited the girl’s home later in the day. “The four others with injuries were rushed to a nearby hospital. They are stable now,” he added.
According to a National Crime Records Bureau report of 2021, a total of 7,126 people had died in the country from causes attributed to forces of nature. At least 40% of the deaths were because of lightning.
In UP, 219 people died after being struck by lightning in 2021. Among them was a 35-year-old man in Noida’s Jarcha.
In 2016, two persons died when they were struck by a thunderbolt in Govind Puram area. Rishabh and his friend Naeem were talking on phone on the terrace of a building at a friend’s birthday party when a bolt of lightning struck them.
In 2011, six persons, including an engineering student and three women, were killed when lightning struck in three places of Ghaziabad.
