Lightning strike kills 8 in Sunamganj, Maulvibazar
At least eight people were killed and three others were injured by lightning strikes in Sunamganj and Maulvibazar on Sunday.
The figure is the year's highest single-day death toll caused by lightning bolts, the last addition to the government's list of natural disasters in Bangladesh.
In Sunamganj, six died and two were injured as they were struck by lightning while harvesting paddy in haor areas in three separate upazilas of the district, Tahirpur police station SI Helal Uddin and SI Mridul confirmed.
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The tragic incident first took place in Tahirpur upazila around 9:30am and later at 10:30am in Doarabazar and Chhatak upazila, casting a shadow of mourning in the areas a day after the holy Eid-ul-Fitr.
The deceased are Tahirpur's Ramzan Mia, 15, Doarabazar's Milan Mia, 14, and Tara Mia, 32, and Chhatak's Maim Mia, 18, Arash Ali, 50, Abdus Samad, 25,
Injured Nizam Uddin, 25, and Mukid Mia, 25, who incurred burn injuries have been sent to Sunamganj Sadar hospital for treatment.
Family members of the deceased took the bodies home after duty doctors at the Upazila health complexes declared them dead.
In Moulvibazar, one person including a cow was killed by lightning in Kamalganj and another died in Srimangal.
One person sustained burn injuries in the same incident in Srimangal.
According to sources in Srimangal Upazila Health Complex, a man named Riaz Uddin died on the spot after being stroked by lightning and another person named Haider Mia who was rescued in critical condition is undergoing treatment at Moulvibazar 250-bed hospital.
Meanwhile, a man named Som Shabdkar died along with his cow in the Mangalpur area of Kamalganj, Srimangal police station Officer-in-Charge Md Jahangir Hossain Sardar confirmed.
Srimangal Upazila Nirbahi Officer Ali Rajib Mithun said that the government has immediately provided Tk20,000 for the burial of the deceased.
Assuring further support for the victims, the officer said that the government will take responsibility for the treatment of the injured.
