Several lightning bolts hit a Bangladesh wedding within a couple of seconds on Wednesday, killing 16 people and injuring the groom, officials said.
The group had just left a ship at the riverside town of Shibganj to require shelter from the thunderstorm when the lightning struck, a government administrator for the town said.
The bride wasn’t with the marriage party, Sakib Al-Rabby said, confirming 16 people died as several bolts struck within a couple of seconds of every other within the western district of Chapainawabganj.
Fierce monsoon storms have battered Bangladesh. every week of torrential rains within the southeastern district of Cox’s Bazar left some 20 dead, including six Rohingya refugees.
Lightning kills many people within the South Asian country annually.
According to a politician tally, there have been quite 200 lightning deaths in 2016, with 82 people dying on one day in May. Many deaths are never officially recorded, however, and one independent monitor counted a minimum of 349 deaths from lightning strikes.
Some experts say deforestation has increased the price with Bangladesh planting many thousands of palm trees in a bid to ease the impact of global climate change and reduce the number of lightning deaths.
