At least 24 students fell unconscious during a panic attack after a massive lightning struck a mahogany tree under which they were playing during tiffin break on a high school campus in Murshidabad’s Domkal on Thursday afternoon.

All the students, who were admitted to a local hospital, were released on Friday as doctors did not find any serious injuries.

“The students fell unconscious because of the panic caused by the lightning and thunder. They did not have any external injuries, and we released them after a few rounds of counselling,” said Sourabh Shil, the superintendent of Domkal subdivisional hospital.

The teachers and students of Bhagirathpur High School said the 24 students, aged between 12 and 15 years, were playing under the tree during the tiffin break. Around 1.45pm, a massive lightning bolt suddenly struck the tree, setting it ablaze. Within a few minutes, the teachers found all the students lying under the mahogany tree.

The teachers immediately informed the villagers who helped rush all the affected students to the local hospital.

“There was a huge lightning and thunder. The lightning damaged the tree by splitting it into two. We are fortunate that the lightning did not have any direct impact on our students,” said Salim Reza, the teacher-in-charge of the school.

The students who witnessed the incident said they were shocked by the brightness of the lightning and the bang of the thunder.

“I was standing on the verandah outside our classroom. I closed my eyes because the light was so bright that I couldn’t see anything for at least five minutes. It seemed to me that I became deaf because of the sound of the thunder,” said Abid Hasan, a Class VIII student in the high school.

Hundreds of villagers from Bhagirathpur and nearby villages started visiting the school to witness the tree that saved the lives of 24 students.

“Many people who heard about the incident started visiting the school to see the tree that saved the lives of our children,” said a villager.

3 killed in accident

Three people, including an elderly couple, were killed after a battery-run rickshaw they were travelling in was hit by a truck from the rear near Mangalzone village of Murshidabad’s Raghunathganj on Friday morning.

Chandi Sakrar, 75, and his wife Pushpa, 71, residents of Suti, died on the spot while Nil Chand Haldar, 42, the driver of the Toto, died at the Raghunathganj hospital.

Haldar was also a resident of the same village as the elderly couple.

Police seized the truck, but its driver managed to flee.