By Nneka Nwogwugwu
17 persons were killed after lightning struck a wedding party on a boat in northwestern Bangladesh.
Police official, Farid Hossain said on Wednesday that the lightning hit as the boat reached the bank of the Padma river in Shibganj town as the wedding-goers made their way to the bride’s house.
“We have information of 17 people who died and several others were admitted to hospital,” Hossain said.
Fourteen people were injured and taken to hospital, Fire Service official Meherul Islam said.
The bridegroom was among those hurt.
Local government official Sakib Al-Rabby said the bride was not with the group when the incident occurred in Shibganj, which is about 245 kilometres northwest of the capital Dhaka.
Mr Al-Rabby said the group had just left their boat to take refuge because of the thunderstorm when they were struck.
Lightning kills hundreds of people every year in Bangladesh, which declared lightning strikes a natural disaster in 2016 when more than 200 people died in the month of May alone, including 82 people on a single day.
According to Independent lightning deaths usually occur during the warm months of March to July.
