At least 17 killed in lightning strike in Bangladesh 

DHAKA: At least 17 wedding party members were killed on Wednesday by a massive lightning strike in Bangladesh’s Chapainawabganj district, some 302 km northwest of capital Dhaka, a senior official said.

Sakib Al Rabbi, head of Chapainawabganj’s Shibganj sub-district administration, told Xinhua over mobile phone that “17 people were killed on the spot after lightning struck a wedding party boat.”

He said the tragic incident took place at a boat terminal on the bank of the Padma River at noon on Wednesday.

According to the official, the boat carrying dozens of people of a wedding party was crossing the Padma River amid the heavy downpour.

After the boat anchored at a terminal on the riverbank, it was struck by a massive lightning, killing 17 people and injuring 6 others.

Lightning strikes in the past couple of months reportedly killed scores of people in parts of the country.

Experts here blame the rise in lightning strike deaths directly on climate change that made Bangladesh more vulnerable to the impacts.–Xinhua

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