Two shepherds and five farmhands suffered minor injuries when lightning struck a nearby tree even as they were on the field near here on Thursday evening.
The surroundings of Tirunelveli and Palayamkottai experienced brief showers for about five minutes with strong winds on Thursday evening. When two shepherds and five farmhands were on the field at Vaniyankulam near Gopalasamudram, it started raining suddenly with strong wind. As lightning struck a tree at a distance, the farmhands and the shepherds suffered minor injuries. They were treated as outpatients in the hospital. As the gale damaged the asbestos sheet of a house at Karuppanthurai near Tirunelveli Junction, it fell on the inmates, who suffered minor injuries.
Power supply to several parts of Palayamkottai got disrupted when the strong winds coupled with showers uprooted a tree at Perumalpuram, the branches of which fell on the power cables.
Fire and Rescue Services personnel removed the uprooted tree.
