At least 10 people were killed by lightning strikes in Pabna, Chuadanga, Rajshahi and Mymensingh districts on Saturday, reports UNB.

In Pabna, thunderbolt left four people, including three of a family, dead at Pachuria village in Bera upazila at noon.

The deceased are Motaleb Hossain, 50, his sons Fakir Sardar, 20, and Sharif Sardar, 18; and Raham Ali, 55. All of them were farmers of the village.

Shahid Mahmud, officer-in-charge of Bera police station, said they were struck by lightning while cleaning jute in a drain near Pachuria School playground.

All four were killed on the spot.

In Chuadanga, three day-labourers were killed and four others injured after being struck by lightning at Khord village in Alamdanga upazila in the afternoon.

The deceased are Al-Amin, 30, son of Makbul Hossain; Huda, 32, son of Golam Rasul, and Hamidul Islam, 30, son of Barkat Ali of Kalaidanga village in Meherpur Sadar upazila.

Alamdanga police station OC Asaduzzaman said a group of labourers were loading bananas on a truck amid rain when seven of them were injured after being struck by a thunderbolt around 3:30pm.

They were taken to Chuadanaga Sadar Hospital where physicians pronounced three of them dead.

In Rajshahi, a farmer was killed while working in the field at Benipur village in Charghat upazila in the afternoon.

The deceased was identified as Durul Huda, 55, of the village.

Matikata Union Parishad chairman Md Ali Azam said Durul was struck by lightning when he was planting paddy around 3:00pm. He was killed on the spot.

In Mymensingh, two farmers were killed as they were struck by a streak of lightning at Baula village in Phulpur upazila at noon.

The deceased are identified as Sohagh Mia, 30, son of Abdul Mazid, and Jamal Uddin, 40, of the village.

Imarat Hossain Gazi, officer-in-charge of Phulpur police station, said the farmers were hit by a thunderbolt while working in the field around 2:00pm, leaving them dead on the spot.

There has been an increase in number of deaths from lightning strikes. Data compiled by a non-government organisation showed that at least 126 people were killed by lightning strikes across Bangladesh in May and June this year.

It is a conservative estimate since the information was collected from a number of local and national newspapers, some online portals and televisions.

The victims included 21 women, seven children and 98 men. Most of them were killed while fishing or bringing cattle back home from the field.

Fifty-three people were also injured in lightning strikes during this period.