Agartala, May 28 (IANS) Two school students were killed and three other people were injured in lightning strikes in Tripura Wednesday, officials said.

An eight-year-old boy and his 10-year-old brother died on the spot when lightning struck at Khowai in western Tripura while they were playing in a field near their house.

Three other people suffered burns due to lightning in different places.

Lightning and thunder, accompanied by high velocity winds, have been lashing Tripura over the past several days, damaging crops and uprooting electric poles and trees.

At least 12 people have been killed in lightning strikes in the past two weeks.

According to physicists, the northeastern region, due to its topography, is a lightning-prone area. Lightning claims on an average 100 lives every year especially in March-May.