Dhaka, Aug 4 (IANS) | At least 17 members of a wedding party on a boat were killed when lightning struck them in Chapainwabganj district, about 302 km northwest of Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka, on Wednesday, a senior official said. Saqib Al Rabbi, head of Chapainwabganj’s Shibganj sub-district administration, told Xinhua over the phone that 17 people died on the spot when a wedding party boat was struck by lightning.
The incident took place on Wednesday afternoon at a boat terminal on the banks of the Padma river. Amidst heavy rain, a boat carrying dozens of people from the wedding party was crossing the river. After the boat anchored at a terminal on the banks of the river, it was struck by severe lightning, killing 17 people and injuring 6 others. Many people have been killed by lightning in the last few months and these cases have increased in the last few years.
Experts here blame climate change directly for the increase in lightning deaths, which has made Bangladesh more vulnerable to the effects.