Lightning kills 2 brothers while reaping paddy in Sunamganj haor

Two brothers were killed in lightning strikes while harvesting paddy in a haor area of Modhurapur village in Bhatipara union under Derai upazila of Sunamganj district on Wednesday.

The deceased were identified as Fakhrul Islam, 55, and Fazlul Haque, 40.

Azizur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Dirai police station, said lightning struck the two brothers while they were working on their agricultural field during heavy rains in the morning. 

"The duo died on the spot,” he added.

Lighting strikes are common in Bangladesh. At least 1,800 people were killed in lightning strikes between 2010 and 2017, shows a study by a Bangladesh Agricultural University professor.

Nearly 250 people were killed in lightning strikes between February and September 2019, according to official statistics. In 2018, lightning strikes killed some 359 people.

A 2014 University of Berkeley study predicted that lightning strikes are expected to increase by 12% for every degree Celsius of warming, with a 50% rise in lightning expected by the end of the century.

In 2015, the Bangladesh government declared lightning as a natural disaster.