21-Year-Old Kolkata Based Cricketer Debobrata Pal Killed Due to Lightning During Match Practice

A 21-year-old budding cricketer named Debobrata Pal was killed due to lightning in South Kolkata on Sunday. A bolt of lightning struck the youngster as he was walking back to the tent after wrapping up his practice at around 1.45 PM. Debobrata, of Serampore, fell to the ground the moment lightening stuck and was alive for a few minutes.

Officials tried to revive him but didn’t help Debobrata. Rahul Mondal, an eyewitness spoke to a newspaper and said, “I remember seeing Debabrata collapse. He first went down on his knees and then slumped backwards in front of our eyes. "I felt his pulse; it was very feeble. But he was not breathing. I pumped his chest and tried to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. But he didn't respond,” Gobinda Baidya, the groundsman was having his lunch hardly 50 meters away from where the boys were warming up. He said that lightning lit up the entire room.

Debobrata was rushed to Ramakrishna Mission Seva Pratishthan where the doctors announced him dead on arrival. Bajradeepan Purakayasthya, who travelled with Debobrata from Serampore to Kolkata, said that he was a good cricketer. “He was always good at cricket and his dream was to become a cricketer. But he knew his parents would not support his joining a cricket academy until he had graduated. So, he joined the coaching camp after sitting his BCom finals.”

A doctor at Seva Pratishthan said Debabrata's white uniform was burnt from many places. However, the exact cause of death will be known after the post-mortem is conducted, which will be conducted today. Debobrata’s parents arrived a few hours later and were inconsolable.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 11, 2018 12:27 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).