Worshippers had narrow escape after lightning struck Sikh temple

Worshippers had a lucky escape after a lightning strike blew a massive hole in a temple roof on Sunday. A group of elderly women were singing hymns when the roof caved in at the Ramgarhia Sikh Temple in Meynell Road, Leicester, at about 3pm.


YouTube link. Original BBC news video.

The women were showered with debris and roof tiles in the main prayer hall. A whole section of the gable end of the building was destroyed, while timbers from the roof were thrown up to 40 yards away.



Kulwant Kaur Kalsi, 80, who is the oldest serving member of the temple, was hit by falling debris in the prayer hall. The 80-year-old said: “It was amazing that no-one was seriously hurt.



“One minute we were sitting there singing, then we heard the thunder and saw the lightning and the roof fell in. I was only hit by tiles but a woman was hit by some wood. She had cuts and bruises.”