The spot on Kushtia Road where Monorama Roy was electrocuted. Picture by Sanat Kumar Sinha

Like any other morning, 16-year-old Monorama Roy had set out from her Tiljala home on Wednesday to hawk milk pouches in the neighbourhood. The girl was wading through water on Kushtia Road when her arm brushed against a live overhead wire that had snapped after a branch fell on it.

Within seconds, Monorama’s body was lying on the road, half under the water. She was one of the four electrocuted in the city on Wednesday when it went under water. Three others were killed after being struck by lightning.

In central Calcutta, near Shraddhananda Park, Tapas Nath, 22, touched an electrified collapsible gate of a closed shop. A wire that supplies power to a signage had snapped and fallen on the gate. Ganesh Das, in his 20s, saw Nath shuddering and tried to help him and also got electrocuted.

Local residents complained that the bodies floated on the water for about an hour before police reached the spot. “We made repeated calls to Muchipara police station,” said Gopal Dhar, owner of a jewellery shop in the area.

Another Topsia teenager, Sheikh Salamat, 18, died when he held an electrified lamppost to maintain his balance in knee-deep water.

At Missionbazar, in Kestopur, three fish-sellers were struck by lightning. Four others who were near the spot were injured.

“I was barely 20 ft away from where the trio was sitting in a row. Suddenly, there was a flash of light followed by a deafening sound,” said local resident Niranjan Pramanik. “The three were badly burnt. The injured were writhing in pain.”

The three killed were identified as Swapan Pramanik, 45, Mihir Mondal, 65, and Bablu Mondal, 37.