24 injured in lightning strike at Jharkhand school

RANCHI - Twenty-four children were injured when a lightning struck a school building in Jharkhand’s Giridih district Thursday, police said.

According to police, lightning struck the Lalchand High School situated under Dumri police station of Giridih district, around 190 km from Ranchi, Thursday afternoon when more than 300 students were studying in the school.

In the incident, 24 schoolchildren were injured. They were admitted to a hospital where condition of seven was reported to be serious, police said.

About three years ago, the state government proposed to install conductors on each school building to prevent damage due to lightning strikes. All the schools are yet to be covered under the project.

According to official data, this year lightning strikes have claimed at least 29 lives. Every year 50-60 people die in such incidents.