An elderly woman had a lucky escape when lightning struck a house at Mestawada in Mandrem on Thursday night.
The incident took place at about 8.30 pm while it was raining heavily in the area.
Sources said lightning struck the roof of the house belonging to Gunaji Chari and the electrical wires caught fire. The electricity meter got burnt due to a short circuit.
An elderly family member was in another portion of the house, but she escaped unhurt.
Neighbours tried to extinguish the fire and the Pernem Fire Services was also notified.
A fire tender was, however, unable to reach the house due to the narrow access but neighbours succeeded in extinguishing the fire.
Mandre MLA Jit Arolkar along with Pernem Deputy Collector Deepak Vaingankar later visited the house to take stock of the damage.
Arolkar assured government assistance to the family and said he would also try to help the Chari family in his personal capacity.
The deputy collector directed the talathi to assess the losses and submit the report to him as soon as possible, to enable the family gets quick assistance.
