Lightning strikes kill 2 in Satkhira

At least two people have died and four others injured in separate lightning strikes in Satkhira’s Debhata and Sadar upazilas.

The incidents took place at Patnar Beel in Debhata and Khejurdanga in Satkhira Sadar on Sunday morning, according to police.

The dead have been identified as Abdul Latif, 45, a resident of Narikeli village in Debhata and Faruk Hossain, 40, who is a resident of Khejurdanga village.

Abdul went to a fish farming enclosure in Patnar Beel and took refuge in a home when a storm started. He died when a bolt of lightning struck him, said Debhata Police Station chief Sheikh Obaidullah.

Satkhira Sadar Police Station chief Golam Kabir said labourers were using an excavator at a fish farming enclosure in Kejurdanga Beel, when three of them, including Faruk, were struck by lightning.

Faruk died on the spot and four others were hospitalised after being injured in the incident.

Mohidul Mojid, one of the victims who was receiving treatment, said, “We were standing near the excavator that was in operation at the site. A thunderstorm started all of a sudden and a bolt hit us before we could move to safety.”

Abdul Alim, a local chairman of a union council, said Faruk’s body was sent to his home in Khejurdanga.