A football player was struck dead by lightning while a match was in play and four others received injuries at a village playground in Jharkhand’s Gumla district, around 120 km from capital Ranchi, police said on Friday.
The incident took place at Uru Bardih, a remote Maoist-dominated village, under Chainpur block in the late afternoon on Thursday. However, the police received information about the incident on Friday morning. The deceased was identified as Paras Panna, resident of Tetar Toli village.
The police visited the village on Friday to certify the death and enquire about how the football match was organised in violation of lockdown protocol.
The sub-divisional police officer (SDPO), Chainpur, Kuldeep Kumar said, “A match named Neman Kujur football championship was going on when the lightning strike took place at the ground. One player died due to the strike, while four others received injuries in the incident.”
He said, as per the information they received, the five persons were taken to Gumla Sadar hospital where one person was declared brought dead. Other four persons were released on Friday after treatment of their minor injuries.
Kumar said a police team went to the village on Friday. “They will certify the death and also investigate how the match was organised in violation of lockdown protocol. They will find out the organiser of the football match so that appropriate action could be taken.”
The injured said that it was raining but they continued their game. But, suddenly a strong lightning struck the middle of the ground and a player died.
The district saw a second incident of lightning at Shimla Bartoli village where a eight-year-old boy, who was with two elder brothers at a farm field, died due to strike in the late afternoon on Thursday. His two other brothers received injuries.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report, a total of 334 people have died due to lightning in Jharkhand in 2019.
An analysis of NCRB data since 2010 revealed that a total of 2,363 people lost their lives by being struck by the lightning between 2010 and 2019, which means on an average 20 people were killed in a decade.
