Lucknow: Heavy rains, accompanied by strong winds and thunderstorm, claimed lives of five persons -- two in Gonda and three in Lakhimpur Kheri -- in the state on Monday. Two persons lost their lives, while two others were injured on Monday afternoon in a dust storm followed by rain in Gonda, officials said. Satyaprakash (23), a resident of Chhapia police station area, died as a tree fell on him due to heavy winds, when he was going to appear in an examination, the officials said. Ram Moorat (43), a resident of Dhaneypur police station area, also died, when a tree fell on him.
Gonda District Magistrate Ujjwal Kumar said that two persons died in rain-related incidents, and a report has been sought from the respective sub-divisional magistrates. Meanwhile, in Lakhimpur Kheri, two cousins were killed when the lightning struck them at Chandila village, police officials said. Tariq (15) and his cousin Rakiba (9) had gone to an orchard to pick mangoes amid heavy rainfall and strong winds on Monday morning when the lightning struck them, said Pasgawan police station SHO Arun Kumar Singh. In a separate incident at Akbarpur village, Shatrohan (55) was stuck under a huge tree uprooted by strong winds. Villagers somehow pulled Shatrohan out from under the tree and rushed him to a nearby health centre but he succumbed to injuries on the way to the hospital. Following loss of lives due to rain-related incidents, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed the district magistrates of the districts affected by the incidents of storm, rain and lightning to immediately distribute relief to the kin of the victims, the government said in a statement issued in Lucknow. In view of the natural calamity, relief work should be done effectively in the districts, he instructed. Instructions were also issued to ensure proper medical arrangements for the injured persons, and to provide a detailed report after assessing the loss of human life and cattle, and crop damage, the statement said.—PTI