Lightning strikes claim 340 lives in 13 months: Report

A total of 340 people were killed by lightning strikes in the country from April 2022 to 3 May 2023.

Among them, 274 people including 239 men and 35 women died due to lightning strikes during the period of April to December last year. 

Save the Society and Thunderstorm Awareness Forum (SSTF) published the death toll during an awareness programme involving 300 farmers on Thursday. 

The SSTF has been monitoring casualties from thunderstorms since 2019.

Dr Kabirul Bashar,  president of the organization and General Secretary Rashim Mollah demanded steps  from the government to reduce the number of deaths from lightning.

They presented the government with two points of demand that include raising awareness among people regarding thunderstorms by incorporating the topic in textbooks and building lightning-resistant towers and planting high and fast-growing trees in open fields. 

According to SSTF statistics, the first death due to lightning in 2023 was reported on March 15. 

From March to May 3, 66 people died by lightning. Of them, 63 are men and three are women.  

Eight people were injured during this period. 51 people died while working in the field alone, it said.

Meanwhile, eleven people died while on boats or while fishing.

The figures of lightning casualties were collected from national dailies, local daily newspapers, online news portals and television channels.

This year, the highest number of casualties from thunderstorms  occurred in Sunamganj of Sylhet division. Seven people have died in the district. and five people died in Sylhet district.