DHAKA: At least 42 people, including women and children, were killed in Bangladesh within the last 24 hours after being struck by lightning during thundershowers, officials said on Friday.

Meteorological office said the downpour brought with it thundershowers in 14 districts, including Dhaka.

Nine people were killed in five districts on Friday as rain has been lashing several parts of the country after a spell of heat waves. Thirty-three people, including children and women, were killed on Thursday in 12 different districts.

The lightning that accompanied the seasonal nor'wester storms claimed the highest eight lives in northwestern Pabna, five each in neighbouring Sirajganj and Rajshahi districts.

Police said Dhaka, Chittagong, Joypurhat and Naogaon saw two deaths each while one person died after being struck by bolt in Sunamganj on Friday.

In Dhaka, sudden thunderbolts killed two engineering students when they were playing football in the rain.

Four persons died in Kishoreganj and Brahmanbarhia each, reports said. Eleven more deaths were reported from other parts of the country.

The casualties included a number of children who were playing in open grounds during the rain but mostly the victims were farmers, including women, who were in their fields.

Rains appeared as a welcome shower after a heat wave scorched the country, but the downpour brought with it the lightning that caused the unusually high number of casualties.

"Bangladesh witnesses the seasonal nor'wester storm every year from March to May when the thunderbolts also occur," meteorologist Hafizur Rahman said adding that the phenomenon appears mostly in northwestern Rajsahi and Sylhet regions.

Fellow meteorologist Sujit Kumar Deb Sharma said lightning kills up to 300 people on an average each year in Bangladesh though not all the incidents were not reported in the media.

The Met office has predicted rain or thundershowers with gusty or squally wind today in Dhaka, and in northwestern and northeastern regions.

Some areas in southwestern and northwestern parts of the country may also receive rain and thundershowers.



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