More than 50 people have been
killed by lightning in Bangladesh over the last few days, and scores have been
injured. In total, over 90 have been killed since March, compared with 51 in
the whole of last year.
Most of the victims were working in
the fields, though two students were struck as they played football in the
capital, Dhaka. March to May is the worst time of the year for thunderstorms,
and more are expected over the next week or so.
M. Abdul Mannan, a meteorology
department official, said storms had been getting more severe over the last 30
years because of climate change. He blamed this year’s exceptionally hot
weather for the increase in deaths, while the Bangladesh Disaster Preparedness
Forum said the felling of trees was also a factor.
Lightning is also India’s deadliest
natural disaster, killing at least 1,500 people every year since 2003. (See my
post of 7 September 2015. See also my posts of 1 July 2011 and 4 July 2015.)
*My new book Storm: Nature and Culture (Reaktion Books) is due out in September.
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