AMN / DHAKA
At least 17 people were killed and 15 others injured in lightning strikes in eight districts of Bangladesh. Officials said the lightning bolts from the storms slammed into the ground in Sirajganj, Magura, Naogaon, Rangamati, Noakhali, Sunamganj, Brahmanbaria and Gazipur yesterday.
The freak storm flattened hundreds of houses in rural Bangladesh districts, uprooted trees and levelled electric poles disrupting the power supply. The storm also caused heavy damage to the standing paddy crops.
In Sirajganj, five people, including father and son, were killed in lightning strikes in Kazipur, Sahajadpur and Kamarkhanda upazilas today.
Shamsul Mondol, 55, and his son Arman Ali, 14, of Kazipur upazila in the district were killed while working on their peanut field at Tekani char of the upazila.
In another incident, Quader Hossain, 37, Pestakukra village under Kamarkhanda upazila, was killed in a lightning strike while cutting paddy on his field amid rain, police said.
Nabil, 17, son of Faruq Khan and his friend Polin, 15, son of Rasedul Islam, residents of Chhoiani village of Sahajadpur upazila, died on the spot at the village as lightning struck them.
In Magura, three people were killed as lightning struck them in Sadar and Salikha upazilas.
The deceased are: Shamim, a rickshaw van driver of Akkurpara, Alom, son of Abur Rashid of Rai village, both under Sadar upazila, and Mehedi, of Bunagati village under Shalikha upazila.
