Lightning strikes, landslide kill 13 in Bangladesh

At least 13 people were killed in separate incidents of lightning strikes and landslide in different district in Bangladesh on Saturday.

In Pabna, at least four people including three of a family died by a lightning strike in Bera upazila of the district this afternoon.

The deceased were identified as Motaleb Sardar, 55, his two sons Farid Sardar, 22, Sarif Sardar, 18, and Raham Ali, 50, of Pachuria village, said Bera Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Asif Anam Siddiquee.

They died on the spot after a thunderbolt hit them while processing rotten jute in a field near Pachuria primary school of the village around 12:30pm.

In Mymensingh, three persons were killed and another was injured in separate lightning strikes in Phulbaria and Phulpur upazila.

Chaito Bormon, 22, a fisherman, died on the spot after a lightning struck him while catching fish at a waterbody in Hatilate village in Phulbaria upazila around 2.30pm, said Firoz Talukder, officer-in-charge of Phulbaria Police Station.

Monu Bormon, 25, elder brother of the victim, who sustained injuries during the strike, was given first aid, the OC added.  

A youth, Sohagh Mia, 22, son of Abdul Mazid of Baula area in Phulpur was killed in another lightning strike in Phulpur upazila around 2.00pm, said Imarat Hossain Gazi, officer-in-charge of Phulpur Police Station.

Another lightning struck a farmer, Jamal Uddin, 40, leaving him dead on the spot while he was working at his seed beds at Poyari village in the same upazila around 12.00pm, added the OC.

 In Chuadanga, three labours died on the spot after a thunderbolt struck them while they were unloading banana on a Dhaka-bound truck in Alamdanga upazila town around 4:30pm, Munshi Asaduzzaman, officer-in-charge of Alamdanga Police Station.

The victims were identified as Al Amin, 30, Bazlul Huda, 32, and Hamidul Islam ,23, hailing from Bagati village in Sadar upazila of Meherpur, our Kushtia correspondent reports quoting the OC.

In Netrakona, Enamul Haque, 22, was killed in a lightning strike in Sannyasipara area in Kalmakanda upazila this morning, said Mazharul Karim, officer-in-charge of Kalmakanda Police Station.

Enamul, a farmer, was injured in a lightning strike while he was working at a crop field. He was taken to Kalmakanda Upazila Health Complex where doctors declared him dead, added the OC.

Meanwhile, two people have been killed in a landslide triggered by heavy rainfall in Kaptai upazila of Rangamati.

The deceased are Atal Barua, 50, and Sujoya Aung Marma, 42, former chairman of Kaptai upazila, Dildar Hossain, said.

According to local sources, around 11am on Saturday, Atal and Sujoya were riding a CNG auto-rickshaw on the Raikhali-Bangalhalia-Bandarban main road, when a landslide at Karigarpara under Raikhali union of Kaptai, killed them on the spot.

Kamruzzaman