Rains lashed parts of Saurashtra region, Dahod and Bharuch.

RAJKOT/VADODARA/SURAT: At least 10 people died, nine of them after being struck by lightning, as pre-monsoon thundershowers wreaked havoc in several parts of the state on Friday.

While three persons each died due to lightning in Dahod and Surat , two in Rajkot and Jetpur met the same fate. A farm labourer woman was also killed by lightning in Bharuch.

The rains and gust left a trail of destruction in Devgadh Baria, Dhanpur and Jhalod districts of Dahod where five bovines also died either by lightning or trees falling on them. In Dungri village of Jhalod, a girl identified as Kavita Muniya died after a huge neem tree fell on her house.

In Jetpur, three persons were injured when wall of Jagdish Dyeing collapsed due to gust. The victims were referred to Junagadh civil hospital for treatment. A victim of lightning in Rajkot suffered severe burns and was admitted to the intensive care unit of a private hospital.

The weather department has forecast light to moderate rain or thundershowers at isolated places South Gujarat, Saurashtra-Kutch and in Diu, Daman, Dadra Nagar Haveli for the next three days.

IMD said this was a pre-monsoon activity and attributed the wet spell to south-westerly to westerly winds. Elsewhere, heavy rain was reported in Khambhaliya town of Dwarka, Dhoraji town and parts of Amreli.

