Dhaka, Sep 8 – At least 246 people were killed and 97 people were also hurt in lightning strikes across Bangladesh from February 1 to August 30 this year.
The victims included 30 women and 6 children, said Rashim Mollah, secretary of Save the Society and Thunderstorm Awarness Forum (SSTAF) in a press conference held at its Purana Paltan office in the city on Sunday.
Their data was gathered from local and national dailies and some online portals as well as television channels, Mollah said.
Most of them were killed while working in their farm lands, fishing or cattle farming. Some of the victims died while sleeping in cottages or tin-sheet houses and under trees, he added.
The bulk of the deaths took place in the May-July period that is also the peak of the monsoon season, when 173 of the deaths occurred. June was the deadliest month, when 66 people were killed and 18 others were injured by lightning strikes. The dead included 11 women and 3 children that month.
It was followed by May, when 60 people were killed by lightning strikes, and then July, when at least 47 people were killed
In July, at least 47 people were killed. Of them 43 male and rest of them are females.
Lightning strikes were declared a natural disaster by the government of Bangladesh in 2016, and since then casualties resulting from such strikes have been added to the country’s official list of casualties from natural disasters.
Executive Head of the organization Abdul Alim, Vice President Shohel Rana, Executive Member Masud Rana, Govt Titumir College Member Hasnain Ahmed and Govt Bangabandhu College Member Zubair Hossain were present in the press conference. – UNB
