Lightning strikes kill 9 including 5 of a family

At least nine people, including seven farmers and two children, have died after being hit by lightning strikes in Sirajganj's Ullapara, reports bdnews24.com.

All of them were working on or close to a crop field, police said after the incident in the Matikora area of Panchakoshi on Thursday afternoon.

The seven farmers include three members of a family. Six other injured were rushed to hospital.

Nazrul Islam, chief of Ullapara Police Station, said 12 to 13 farmers were working in the field around 4:30pm when they were hit by lightning strikes.

Five of them died on the spot while two others on the way to hospital. The children - Ritu Khatun, 14, and Jannati, 12, identified with a single name - were near the field.