Lightening strike kills nine in Bangladesh

Dhaka, Sep 8 (PTI) At least nine people were killed and six others injured in a lightning strike in northwestern Bangladesh, officials said on Thursday.

“Six farmers were killed almost instantly while three more succumbed to their wounds subsequently,” a police official said of the incident that took place in Sirajganj district.

Ujjal Hossain, the administrative chief (Upazila nirbahi officer) of the Ullapara sub-district in Sirajganj, said the victims were working on a paddy field when the thunderstorm prompted them to take shelters in a hut, which was eventually struck by the lightning.

Bangladesh recently decided to set up warning systems in 723 lightning-prone areas in the country amid increased incidents of lightning.

According to official statistics, lightning incidents across the country killed 2,400 people over the past decade.

The country's met office earlier on Thursday in a warning said parts of Bangladesh could witness a lightning strike in the next 24 hours.

Experts have attributed climate change as a major reason for increased incidents of lightning while other reasons include the lack of palm trees, betel nut trees, and coconut trees in rural areas and inappropriate facilities in urban buildings to arrest lightning. PTI AR PY PY PY