Home ›› 18 Jun 2022 ›› Nation
Five people have been killed in separate lightning strikes in Mymensingh on Friday afternoon.
Three teenagers were killed while playing football in the Gangail union of Nandail upazila of the district.
The deceased were identified as Abu Saeed, 14, son of Md Shahidullah, Shaon Mia, 13, son of Hadis Mia and Swadhin, 14, son of Billal Hossain.
Meanwhile, two others named Bakkar Hossain and Jahangir Hossain were killed by lightning while fishing in the Brahmaputra river channel at Dori Kushtia village in Mymensingh Sadar upazila.
Officer-in-charge (OC) of Nandail Police Station Mizanur Rahman confirmed the incident.
Police and local sources said lightning struck a football field in Gangail village on Friday afternoon. The bodies of three teenagers were burnt. Later, when the locals took them to Nandail Upazila Health Complex, the on-duty doctor declared them dead.
The body was handed over to the family without an autopsy, said OC Mizanur Rahman.
In separate incidents in Sirajganj, two workers were killed and four others were injured in a lightning strike.
One person was killed and two others were injured in a lightning strike while travelling by boat from Sirajganj town to Kawakola on Friday afternoon.
The deceased was identified as Abdur Razzak Munshi, 45, son of Darbesh Munshi of the Dhanbandhi area of the city and the uncle of Kawakola Upazila Chairman Ziaur Rahman.
The other two injured have been admitted to Sirajganj 250-bed Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib General Hospital.
On the other hand, a railway worker named Md Nasir, 18, was killed while working on the ongoing railway bridge project of Saidabad Union.
Sirajganj Sadar Police Station OC Nazrul Islam confirmed the death of two workers by lightning at different areas under Sadar Police Station.
In Lalmonirhat a man was killed by a lightning strike at Sheikh Shundar village in Hatibandha Upazila of the district on Thursday night.
The deceased was identified as Abdul Matin, 46.
Locals said the thunderbolt struck the man at around 9:30 pm when he went out fishing along with a group of villagers. He died on the spot.
OC of Hatibandha Thana Ashraful Alam confirmed the matter.
Lightning strikes have turned into one of the deadliest natural disasters in Bangladesh claiming over 200 lives each year due to the loss of natural defences and lack of precautionary measures, say experts.
They blame deforestation, worsening air pollution and global warming, climate variability, and the growing use of mobile and other technological devices for the increase in the frequency of lightning strikes.
According to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, 2,164 people died in lightning strikes in the country from 2011 to 2020. Considering the upward trend, the government in 2016 declared it a natural disaster, making victims’ families eligible for compensation.
About 70 per cent of the total lightning strikes usually occur between April and June, and farmers and fishermen are the most frequent victims, due to the long periods they spend outdoors working.
