The Associated Press is putting the number of deaths at 64 since Thursday, according to Newser, as tropical storms move across Bangladesh, giving people a break from the week-long oppressive heat that enveloped the country, leading up to the start of the monsoon rains.
Bangladesh usually sees about 300 deaths a year from lightning, but the BBC is reporting that about 90 people have been killed by lightning since March, compared to 51 deaths the whole of 2015. While the country is prone to electrical storms, this year has been particularly bad.
The storms the last few days have caused disruption across 14 districts, including Dhaka, reports the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, adding that most of the deaths were because of a lack of awareness of the dangers of being outside during thunderstorms.
Most of those killed were farmers, working in their fields during the current harvest season. Officials are blaming the rise in lightning strikes and deaths on deforestation, rising temperatures and an increased use of metal-encased electronic products such as cell phones.
Gawher Nayeem Wahr, member-secretary of the Bangladesh Disaster Preparedness Forum, said, “Palm and other taller trees usually attract the lightning flashes. But with these trees becoming scarce in rural areas” people are more prone to be hit. There are more thunderstorms forecast through the end of May.
Mohammad Riaz Ahmed, chief of Bangladesh’s disaster management department, told the Voice of America that authorities are “very concerned” by the number of lightning deaths. “We will make all efforts, consulting our scientists and other disaster management experts so that lightning strikes cannot be a big threat in Bangladesh,” he said.
