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Lightning Strike Kills 14 Farmers in Bangladesh, Deforestation Cited

4/27/2026

Summary

Lightning Strikes Bangladesh

At least 14 people died after lightning struck multiple districts in Bangladesh on Sunday.
Most victims were farmers and laborers, including a 10-year-old boy and a 22-year-old tea worker married eight days earlier.
Several injured were taken to hospitals, with some in critical condition.
Authorities, citing experts who attribute the rise in deadly strikes to deforestation and land-use changes, classified the deaths as unnatural and warned that hundreds occur annually.

Summary

Researchers Link Climate

Researchers at Fakir Mohan University in Odisha reported 101,000 lightning deaths in India from 1967-2020, about 1,900 per year.
The analysis found yearly state deaths rise from 38 (1967-2002) to 61 (2003-2020) as population reaches 1.4 billion.
Scientists link the regional surge to climate-change-driven higher temperatures that boost atmospheric water vapour and charge separation.
They say Bangladesh’s April-June pre-monsoon period sees peak lightning because rising heat and humidity create unstable weather.

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Lightning Strikes Bangladesh

At least 14 people died after lightning struck multiple districts in Bangladesh on Sunday.
Most victims were farmers and laborers, including a 10-year-old boy and a 22-year-old tea worker married eight days earlier.
Several injured were taken to hospitals, with some in critical condition.
Authorities, citing experts who attribute the rise in deadly strikes to deforestation and land-use changes, classified the deaths as unnatural and warned that hundreds occur annually.

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