KATHMANDU, Feb 8: Two people were killed while four sustained injuries in two separate incidents of lightning strikes in Dadeldhura district early Friday.

In one of the two incidents, lightning struck the house of Dashrath Nath, of Bhageswar Rural Municipality-5, killing his daughter Saraswati Nath, 20, on the spot. Dashrath's children Devendra Nath, 15, Kalpana Nath, 14, Bhatri Nath, 12, and Khagendra Nath, 7, were injured in the accident. Two cattle were also killed in the incident.

The District Police Office (DPO), Dadeldhura has informed that the district saw numerous incidents of lightning strikes accompanied by storms and heavy rainfall at around 3 am on Friday. According to the chief of DPO, Dadeldhura, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Dambar Bahadur KC, the lightning struck the solar power cable on the roof of Nath's house, which in turn affected the residents of the house.

“We have found out that the lightning struck a power cable on the roof of the house and the high voltage transferred by the lightning flowed through the cables in the house,” he said, “The deceased and the injured were affected by the electrical wires in the house.”

He added that of the four injured, three sustained minor injuries on their legs while one, Devendra Nath, sustained a severe injury on his head. He has been taken to Dadeldhura sub-regional hospital for treatment.

In another incident, Gogan Daulyal, 48, of Durga Thali Rural Municipality-7, died on the spot in a building of Rajauda community forest in Amargadhi Municipality after a lightning struck a tree nearby the building.

“We have found out that the lightning struck a tall tree besides the building and the current was transferred to the house, killing one person,” DSP KC told Republica. He added that one of Daulyal's friends has also been injured although it is not a serious case.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has recorded 986 cases of lightning in the last five years which caused 483 deaths, affected 976 households, and left 1,251 severely injured. In this review period, lightning inflicted losses worth more than Rs 31 million. Since 2018 alone, 426 people have been struck by lightning out of which 80 lost their lives and 346 were severely injured.

Lightning experts have repeatedly emphasized the need to install lightning safety equipment in houses to prevent loss from lightning. “It is just a matter of as less as Rs 3000 to ensure lightning safety in one's house and it is very easy to install,” lightning safety expert Sudhir Sharma told Republica, “If people grew aware of lightning safety, these incidents could be minimized.”

 
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