Five die in lightning strikes in three districts

Five people, including a child, have died from lightning strikes in three districts. Three people were killed in Jhalakathi, and one each in Netrokona and Jashore, reports bdnews24.com.
Another person was injured in the incidents, which occurred from Sunday morning to the afternoon.
At 10:00 am, the sky darkened and a storm suddenly started in Jhalakathi. Trees were torn down and uprooted by the rain and heavy wind in various locations across the district.
Around 11:00 am, two women and a child were killed by lightning strikes in separate incidents. Another person was injured by a strike.
The dead were identified as Helena Begum, 40, Minara Begum, 35, and Mahia Akhtar Ishana, 11.
The three were killed by lightning in different locations as they were trying to bring livestock in from the fields to protect them from the storm, said Afruzul Haque Tutul, superintendent of Jhalakathi police.
Ishana hailed from Isalia village in the Sadar Upazila. She was the daughter of rickshaw driver Bachchu Howlader and a student in the sixth grade at Afsar Memorial Secondary School.
Rubel Howlader, a local van driver, said the girl had gone to recover a cow tied near their home around 10:15 am when the sky darkened and it began to drizzle.
"She was struck by lightning and died on the spot. The cow's calf was killed by the strike as well."
Twenty-nine-year-old local resident Wadud Munshi was also injured in a lightning strike. He was rescued by locals and taken to Jhalakathi Sadar Hospital.
He is currently out of danger, according to TM Mehedi Hasan Sunny, resident doctor at the hospital.
Of the two housewives killed in other lightning strikes, Helena lived in Sheikherhat in Jhalakathi's Sadar Upazila, while Minara lived in Uttar Talgachia village in Kathalia Upazila.
They were also attempting to bring cattle in from the fields when they were killed, according to their families.
A farmer was killed by a lightning strike in the haor area of Netrokona's Khaliajuri Upazila. The incident occurred in the Rajghat Haor at around 11:45 am.
The victim was identified as 52-year-old Shaheed Mia from Jagannathpur Village in Mendipur Union.
Rezaul Karim, the victim's brother and general secretary of the union's Awami League unit, said Shaheed was tending to his pepper crops in the haor when it started to rain around noon.
"Lightning struck and my brother was killed on the spot. Our village has descended into mourning."
Police have been sent to the scene, said Uttam Kumar Saha of Khaliajuri Police Station. The necessary steps will be taken after speaking with the victim's family, he said. A farmer struck by lightning while tending to his rice field in Jashore's Jhikorgacha Upazila has died.
The incident occurred in Boropodaulia village on Sunday morning, said Jahan Ali, former Upazila council member from Shankarpur Union.
The victim was identified as local resident Abdul Malek Patwari.
Malek was tending to his crops when the rain started coming down and he was struck by lightning, Jahan Ali said. He was killed on the spot.
"When the rain stopped the other farmers found his body lying there, recovered it, and brought it back to his home."