Two persons were killed and two others injured after being struck by lightning during heavy thundershowers at different spots near Karimpur in Nadia district on Tuesday evening.

In both the lightning strikes in the Hogolberia area, the victims were farmers.

Indrajit Sarkar, 62, of Maniknagar, was rushed to Karimpur rural hospital, where the doctor pronounced him brought-dead. Uttam Pramani, 30, of Gopalpur, was also declared brought-dead at the same hospital.

Samar Pramanik, a farmer who was injured in the incident, said: “We were working in the field amid thundershowers when lightning struck suddenly and unleashed a strong shockwave making us unconscious within a second. I later found myself on the hospital bed and heard that two farmers had died.”

Nature activist Bibartan Bhattacharyya said: “It is quite unfortunate that we lose around 2,500 human lives, in addition to cattle, to lightning strikes every year. In most incidents, farmers are the victims. Government and science activists have been tirelessly trying to convince them not to work in the field during thunderstorms.”

“The change in climatic conditions and heating of the earth’s surface at the local level and accumulation of moisture led to a sudden surge in lightning strikes. So, we have to be very careful in order to avoid becoming a victim of this natural phenomenon.”

In Karimpur, premature plants of pulses and lentils, including black gram (karai daal), and urad were damaged after rainwater inundated agriculture fields during the overnight shower. “It was an unexpected shower that damaged the entire production,” said a source.