Lightning strikes kill six people in Cumilla, Netrokona and Sunamganj

Two of them were farmers and the other four students, according to police, officials and witnesses

Lightning strikes have killed six people in the Cumilla, Netrokona and Sunamganj districts.

The victims in Cumilla include two farmers, who died in Muradnagar’s Kurbanpur, and two students, killed in Barura’s Haripur, according to police and witnesses.

Bangara Police Station chief Mahfuzur Rahman said farmers Nikhil Debnath and Jewel, identified by a single name, were working in a paddy field beside a graveyard at Kurbanpur on Monday when lightning struck them and killed them on the spot.

In Barura, several teenagers were flying kites in a field in front of the Karigari Girls High School, said Saiful Islam Biplob, a teacher at Barura’s Payalgachha Bahumukhi High School.

A lightning bolt then struck Farhad Hossain and Saimon Hossain, both of whom are said to be students and killed them.

Another teenager was taken to the Cumilla Medical College Hospital in critical condition, witnesses said.

In Sunamganj, a lightning strike killed a college student when he was tending to cows grazing at a Haor, or wetland, in Shalla Upazila around 7:30am, said local police station chief Shafiqul Islam.

Another madrasa student was killed by lightning around 6:15am in Netrokona, said Teosree Union Parishad member Motahar Hossain.