Canning:
Eight persons were today killed and three others injured in a lightning strike during torrential rains in the Sunderbans in the South 24-Parganas district.
Police said five persons lost their lives in the lightning strike at Pathar Pratima block of the Sunderbans.
Shankar Bera, 41, died when lightning struck him at the house of a local resident at Digambarpur village in the block.
Seven-year-old Mousumi Pal, who belongs to the family in whose house Bera took shelter, died while her mother Baumati suffered burn injuries.
In another part of the same block, three others, including a 30-year-old farmer and an 11-year-old girl Anjura Khatun, died in lightning strikes, they said.
At Kulpi and Kakdwip, two persons were killed when they were struck by lightning at their fields.
A 14-year-old girl Mandira Nayyia died when lightning struck at Uttar Redokhali village in Canning Block, police added.