At least eight people were killed in lightning strikes in three districts of West Bengal, which witnessed moderate rainfall on Thursday, an official said.

Lightning strikes claimed lives of four people in Purba Bardhaman district, and two each in Murshidabad and North 24 Parganas, a disaster management department official said.

"Deaths of eight people from three districts have been reported so far. They died due to lightning strikes," he said.

According to him, the victims were mostly farmers who were killed after being struck by lightning while working in agricultural fields.

Thunderstorms with lightning occurred in several south Bengal districts, including, Kolkata, Howrah, North 24 Parganas, Purba Bardhaman and Murshidabad, he said.

"Gusty wind was reported at Alipore at 1645 hrs and the duration was less than one minute with the highest wind gust of 79 kmph. This is not a squall," said an official at Regional Meteorological Centre here.