Six die in lightning strikes in Bangladesh amid heavy rainfall

Six die in lightning strikes in Bangladesh amid heavy rainfall
June 18, 2022, 6:53 am

A lightning strike or lightning bolt is an electric discharge between the atmosphere and the ground. Most originate in a cumulonimbus cloud and terminate on the ground, called cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning - Pic. Pixabay

Bangladesh police said on Friday (June 17) that six people, including three children, died in lightning strikes in the country.

Officer Shah Kamal said the deaths were reported from three separate lightning incidents in the Mymensingh district.

He said that all those who died were either working outside in fields or fishing.

Officials said that meanwhile heavy rainfall forced the authorities to suspend operations at an international airport after flooding inundated vast areas of the country's north east, leaving tens of thousands of people stranded.

Lightning strikes can produce severe injuries, and are lethal in between 10 and 30% of cases, with up to 80% of survivors sustaining long-term injuries - Pic. Pixabay

Airport manager Hafiz Ahmed said that flight operations were suspended following reports that floodwaters were approaching the runway of Osmani International Airport in Sylhet.

The suspension will remain in effect for three days from Friday, he said, adding that what happens next depends on the situation.

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The flooding was caused by heavy rainfall over the past few days as the monsoon hits Bangladesh and parts of Meghalaya and Assam in India. Vast swathes of land were under water in downstream Bangladesh, according to the country's Flood Forecasting and Warning Center in Dhaka.

Numerous homes, schools, shops and public buildings were flooded in Sylhet and the neighbouring Sunamganj district as waters rose in the major Surma and Kushiara river systems, local government official Jahangir Hossain said.

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He said that the authorities to cut electricity supplies in the Sunamganj district, leaving an estimated 2 million people without power, due to the flooding.

He added that the government has launched rescue efforts to bring those affected to safety immediately.

Source: anews

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