Kendrapara, Aug 12 : About 20 students, including two girl students, sustained injuries on Saturday when lightning struck them while they were in the classroom of Odisha Adarsha Vidyalaya (Kudanagari) of Garadpur block in coastal Kendrapara district.
The students were waiting to return to their houses after rain when the mishap took place, Kendrapara Sub Collector Niranjan Behera said.
The injured students were rushed to the Patkura CHC for treatment. Later two of the critically injured in the lightning shifted to District HeadQuarters hospital for treatment .
The duo critically injured students have been identified as Amrita Panda and Adyasha Laxmi Samal, according to Santoshidashi Samal, Principal of Odisha Adarsha vidyalaya.
Odisha Food Supplies & Consumer Welfare, Co-operation and Higher Education Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak has asked the CDMO to provide medical treatment to the students.
According to District collector Amrit Ruturaj, a thunderstorm with lightning started on Saturday at around 3.30 pm onwards
The students , who were gathered in a class room and waiting for rain to stop after the school was closed, sustained injuries when a lightning struck on that class room in which the ceiling fan, electric bulbs burst, injuring the students inside the class room.
“The injured students were from class 6th and class 7th. While 18 students, who sustained injuries rushed to Patkura CHC for treatment were discharged from the CHC after treatment, two girls students were referred to District HeadQuarters hospital for treatment.
The condition of these two students is stable,the CDMO of Kendrapada told the Collector.
Most of the school buildings in the district did not have the lightning arrester to protect the structure from lightning damage.