Lightning death toll hits 67 so far in May

FT ONLINE

The death toll from lightning strikes across Bangladesh in May has risen to 67 as at least 24 people have been killed in a single day after 70 such deaths in March and April.

On Wednesday, six people were killed by bolts in Habiganj alone. The 18 other deaths were reported in 12 other districts.

Most of the victims were agricultural workers. They were harvesting or carrying paddy during storms when they were struck by lightning bolts like previous days.

The death tolls on May 1, May 3, May 4 and May 5, May 7 and May 8 were 10, seven, eight, two, nine, and seven respectively.

The government said 70 people were killed after being hit by lightning in Bangladesh in last two months, with 33 of those happening on the last two days of April.

Most lightning deaths occur in a warmer period from March to July in Bangladesh.

Up to 300 people died in lightning strikes a year in Bangladesh due to thunderstorms, Sujit Kumar Debsharma, former director of the now-defunct SAARC Meteorological Research Centre in Dhaka said.

Cumulonimbus clouds cause the thunderheads. It is a dense, towering vertical cloud. It is not only creating the thunderheads, but also cause lightning strikes, heavy rains, rock storm, gusty wind and tornado.