Patna: Three members of the same family—spanning three generations—were killed and four others injured after a lightning strike hit a tractor during a thunderstorm in Bakhtiyarpur Diara under Barh subdivision of Patna on Monday night.
The deceased were identified as Ramanand Rai (60), his son Subodh Kumar (35), and grandson Ritesh Kumar, all residents of Abu Mahmadpur village. The victims had been threshing wheat and loading straw in the fields when the weather suddenly turned violent around 11pm, with lightning and heavy rain.
As the rain intensified, the family took shelter beneath a tractor parked in the field. A bolt of lightning then struck the vehicle directly, killing three of them on the spot. Four others sustained burn injuries and were rushed to the Bakhtiyarpur Community Health Centre for treatment. Doctors said all injured persons are out of danger.
Upon receiving information, local police reached the scene and sent the bodies to the subdivisional hospital in Barh for postmortem. The tragedy has cast a pall of grief over the village, with neighbours mourning the loss of an entire generation of a single household.
Lightning strikes remain a significant hazard in rural Bihar during the pre-monsoon season, often claiming lives of those working in open fields.
