Eight persons were killed by lightning strikes in Murshidabad, Malda and Cooch Behar districts on Tuesday.
Four persons were killed and 15 others injured when lightning hit a boat carrying around 20 people on the Ganga near Dhuliyan in Murshidabad district.
The deceased were Asraful Sheikh, 80, Anisur Sheikh, 45, Ekramul Sheikh, 80, and Kochi Sheikh, 25. They were the residents of Parlalpur village of Malda's Baishnabnagar.
A source said the passenger boat was sailing from Dhuliyan to Baishnabnagar in Malda district. It was struck by the lightning in the middle of the river amid heavy winds and rainfall. All the injured were taken to Anuknagar block hospital, where four were declared brought dead.
Four others who were seriously injured were referred to the Jangipur Subdivisional Hospital. All the passengers were residents of different villages in Baishnabnagar, Malda.
At Shatimari in the Sitalkuchi block of Cooch Behar district, Menaka Barman, 59, was struck by lightning while returning with cattle from a field on Tuesday morning. She sustained severe injuries and died on the spot.
Later in the afternoon, five people were working in a paddy field at Mainaguri in the Sutkabari panchayat of the Cooch Behar district when lightning struck them during heavy rain. All the five collapsed on the spot.
The injured workers were rushed to MJN Medical College and Hospital, where doctors declared one of them dead. The remaining four are currently undergoing treatment.
In the Nishiganj area of Mathabhanga 2 block, Pintu Patowari was struck by lightning while returning home from a market on his bicycle. He was initially admitted to Nishiganj Rural Hospital but was later shifted to the medical college.
Two people were killed under the jurisdiction of the Baishnabnagar police station in Malda district after they were struck by lightning on Tuesday.
Sources said Salek Mia, 35, and Jahangir Mia, 29, who are brothers and residents of Abu Molla Para in Jayenpur panchayat in Baishnabnagar, were struck by lightning while harvesting jute in their agricultural field.
They were rushed to the rural hospital in Bedrabad by fellow farmers, where doctors declared them dead.