DHAKA, May 12 (Xinhua) -- At least 14 people were killed by lightning strikes and fallen trees in various parts of Bangladesh on Sunday during a thunderstorm.
Most of the people who died were working on farms during the tropical storm on Sunday afternoon in six districts of Bangladesh, local sources said.
They said two of the victims have been crushed and died after trees fell on them following the gust in two separate places in Mymensingh district, some 122 km north of Dhaka, on Sunday.
According to the sources, five deaths were reported in different areas of Brahmanbaria district, four in Kishoreganj district and one each in Sherpur, Habiganj and Naogaon districts.
A government official in Dhaka could not immediately confirm the toll. Death due to lightning strikes is common in Bangladesh during this time of the year, as the weather changes from the dry season to the rainy summer season.
A series of lightning strikes in Bangladesh killed nine people in less than two hours on April 24 this year.
Bangladesh has seen a surge in lightning strike deaths, with hundreds of fatalities recorded annually in the past few years. Experts claim that it is attributable to climate change, which made Bangladesh more vulnerable to the impacts. ■
