Two brothers die in lightning strike while trekking to world’s highest Shiva temple

2 Lucknow brothers trekking to Tungnath killed by lightning

DEHRADUN: Two brothers from Lucknow were killed after lightning struck them on the Chandrashila trek route near Tungnath, regarded as the world’s highest Shiva temple, on Friday, while two of their companions survived after being caught in bad weather in the high-altitude area.Abhinav Vajpayee, 19, son of Sanjeet Kumar, died on the spot after being struck by lightning, while his elder brother Abhishek, 22, was brought down during the rescue operation and later succumbed during treatment at the primary health centre (PHC) in Ukhimath. The deceased were residents of Transport Nagar area of Lucknow. Shubham Shukla, 25, of Unnao, and Aajan Mishra, 24, of Lucknow, were found safe.Ukhimath police station incharge sub-inspector Manoj Negi said both brothers were students and had come to Chandrashila for trekking. “After the post-mortem, the bodies were handed over to the family members on Saturday. Both were students and hailed from Transport Nagar area of Lucknow. They had come to Chandrashila for trekking,” Negi said.State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) received information from State Emergency Operation Centre, Dehradun, that a group was stranded in Tungnath area due to bad weather and that some persons had been affected by a lightning strike. Acting on the alert, a team from SDRF post Ratuda rushed to the spot with rescue equipment, while Abhishek was brought to Chopta and sent to PHC Ukhimath in an ambulance during the initial relief operation.Despite adverse weather at night, difficult mountainous terrain and a trekking route of nearly 8 to 10km, SDRF personnel moved from Chopta towards Chandrashila and reached the spot late in the night. The team took custody of Abhinav’s body and brought it down to Chopta after trekking through the difficult route.