Story highlights More than a hundred Bangladeshis are killed by lightning every year, but numbers higher than usual

Deforestation contributes to the problem, with farmers becoming targets on bare landscapes

(CNN) Sixty-five people have been killed by lightning strikes in Bangladesh in four days, as the country endures its annual severe storm season.

Most of the deaths occurred in rural parts of north and central Bangladesh, with the victims predominantly farmers and construction workers, Reaz Ahmed, director general of Bangladesh's Department of Disaster Management, told CNN on Monday.

The deadliest recent day was Thursday, when 34 people were killed, he said. Twenty-one died the following day, seven on Saturday and three on Sunday.

Lightning strikes are relatively common in the low-lying, densely-populated nation , with the country experiencing severe storms with frequent lightning often between March and June, ahead of the onset of the monsoon.

Bangladeshi rickshaw drivers take shelter during a heavy downpour in the capital, Dhaka.

The storms were caused by strong cold fronts moving out of the Himalayas and southeastward, encountering warm, moist air from the Bay of Bengal.

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