Staff Correspondent:

Seven people were killed by lightning strikes in Cumilla and Kishoreganj districts on Monday.

In Cumilla, four people, including two schoolboys, were killed by lightning in Barura and Muradnagar upazilas, said Bangora Bazar police station Officer-in-Charge Mahfuzur Rahman.

Police said Fahad Hossain, 13, son of Khokon Mia of Poyalgaccha village and Saimon Hossain, 13, son of Abdul Barek, were killed when a streak of thunderbolt struck them while flying kites at noon in Barura upazila of the district.

Both of them were class VI students of Boroharipur High School.

In another incident, Nikhil Debnath, 64 and Jewel Bhuiyan, 30, son of Jashim Uddin Bhuiyan, were killed by lightning while working at their paddy fields at Korbanpur Purbapara in Muradnagar upazila of Cumilla district in the morning.

In Kishoregnj, three people were killed as lightning struck them in different places.

Witnesses said Fulesa Begum, 65, wife of Asrab Ali of Raniganj Kewarjor in Mithamoin upazila was killed by a thunderbolt while working outside her house at Shantiganj Haor around 8 am.

Besides, Indrajit Das, 36, son of Jatindra Das of Halalpur village, was killed when a thunderbolt struck him while working at a paddy field at Halalpur haor amid rain in the morning.

Meanwhile, Swadhin Mia, 14, son of Idris Mia of Khayerpur village in Astagram upazila was killed when a streak of thunderbolt struck him while cutting paddy at Khayerpur haor, said Ruhul Amin, officer-in-charge of Austagram Police Station.

Lightning strikes kill 250 people on an average every year in the country, according to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department. Thunderbolts also kill or injure a large number of livestocks.

Lightning strikes mostly occur in from April to May till June and most of the deaths occur in flat lands and haor areas.

According to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, 2,164 people died in lightning strikes in the country from 2011 to 2020. Considering the upward trend, the government in 2016 declared it as a national disaster.