Two women labourers from neighbouring Chhattisgarh were killed and over 20 others injured after being struck by lightning in a paddy field within the Balishankara area of Sundargarh district on Tuesday.
The victims, identified as Champa Tirkey and Sushilla Tirkey from the Baradihi area, were working alongside other labourers sowing paddy in Batipada under the Talsara police station. A sudden afternoon thunderstorm brought heavy rain and a powerful lightning bolt that struck the group directly, killing the two women on the spot.
Alert locals and fellow workers rushed to rescue the injured, shifting them to the Sundargarh District Headquarters Hospital for treatment. The tragic incident has cast a pall of gloom over Batipada and heightened safety concerns for agricultural workers during the ongoing Kharif season.