DHAKA — At least 12 people were killed in lightning strikes across Bangladesh between Sunday afternoon and evening, officials said.
The dead include five in Gaibandha district, two in Sirajganj, two in Jamalpur, one in Singra in Natore, one in Gabtali upazila of Bogura and one in Atwari upazila of Panchagarh. Several others were injured.
In Gaibandha, five people, including two children, were killed in separate lightning strikes Sunday afternoon in Kamarpara in Sadullapur upazila and Dhopadanga and Phulchhari in Sundarganj.
The dead include Fuad and his cousin Rafi, both children from Sundarganj upazila, and Ali Akbar from Sadullapur upazila. The fifth victim was not immediately identified.
Mokhlesur Rahman Mondal, chairman of Dhopadanga union in Sundarganj upazila, said Fuad, the young son of former union chairman Suja Chowdhury, and Rafi, the young son of Mujahid, were playing on the veranda of Chowdhury’s house in South Dhopadanga on Sunday afternoon. When lightning struck during a sudden rainstorm, the two children on the veranda were seriously injured. Family members took them to Gaibandha General Hospital, where the attending doctor declared them dead.
Iffat Jahan Tuli, executive officer of Sundarganj upazila, confirmed the incident, saying she had heard two children died in Dhopadanga.
In Kamarpara of Sadullapur upazila, a young man named Mizanur Rahman was seriously injured by lightning while working in a field. He was taken to Gaibandha hospital, where doctors declared him dead. A farmer named Ali Akbar was killed at Bulbulir Char in Phulchhari upazila of Gaibandha.
One person identified as Nambar Ali was killed in Saghata upazila, and an unidentified person was killed in Phulchhari upazila, officials said.
Two people were killed in Sirajganj, two in Jamalpur, one in Singra in Natore, one in Gabtali upazila of Bogura and one in Atwari upazila of Panchagarh.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report