Lightning strikes kill 50

More than 50 people across Bangladesh
have died after being struck by
lightning in the past two days, police
say.
Many of the dead were farmers who
were killed as they worked in their
paddy fields.
Bangladesh is prone to electrical storms
but this year they have been
particularly severe.
Experts suggest a general rise in
temperatures and deforestation may be
factors.
Other victims included two students in
the capital, Dhaka, who were struck as
they played football, and a teenage boy
who died when he went to collect
mangoes.
About 90 people have been killed by
lightning since March, compared to a
total of 51 people in the whole of 2015,
Voice of America (VoA) reported.
The head of Bangladesh’s disaster
management body Mohammad Riaz
Ahmed told VoA he was “indeed
concerned” by the rise in the number
of deaths.
He said further thunderstorms were
predicted for later this month.
Strong tropical storms regularly hit
Bangladesh ahead of and during the
monsoon season, which runs from June
to September.