Dhaka – With the death of over a dozen people in lightning on Friday the death toll in the naural disaster rose to 60 on thelast couple of days, according to reports coming from the districts.At least 41 people including women and children died in lightning strikes during thunderstorms in 12 districts on Thursday, according to reports oublished in different newspapers and news agencies.
Rain and thunderstorms occurred in the capital and elsewhere on Thursday after a week of heat wave that has been scorching the country.Five persons were killed in Sirajganj and Rajshahi each, and four in Pabna, Kishoreganj and Brahmanbarhia each in the afternoon, local officials and police said.
Around the same time, Dhaka, Gazipur, Bogra and Natore had two casualties each, and Habiganj, Naogaon and Niphamari had one death each.
The now-defunct SAARC Meteorological Research Centre’s former director Sujit Kumar Deb Sharma said that it was natural for thunderstorms to occur in this season of Nor’westers.
They generally occur between March and May and sometimes between October and November after the rainy season too, he said, adding that lightning during such storms kills 200-300 people on average each year in Bangladesh.
The Met Office on Thursday recorded a maximum of 37mm of rainfall in Tangail. Also, Netrokona, Comilla, Sylhet, Sreemangal, Ishwardi, Rangpur, Dinajpur, Bhola and Patukkhali experienced showers.
The highest temperature recorded on Thursday was 37.8 degrees Celsius in Mongla and Jessore. The temperature in Dhaka was 36 degrees Celsius.
The Met Office in a weather forecast said rain or thundershowers with gusty or squally wind might occur on Friday at a few places in Dhaka, Rajshahi, Rangpur and Sylhet, and in some areas in Khulna, Barisal and Chittagong. – News Desk
