Lightning strikes kill 7 in Dinajpur

At least seven people, including four teenaged boys, were killed and two others injured as lightnings struck in Dinajpur town and Chirirbandar upazila yesterday afternoon.

Mozaffar Hossain, officer-in-charge of Dinajpur Sadar Police Station, said some boys took shelter in a tin-roofed house in the town's Newtown area when rain began. The boys were playing games on their mobile phones.

Around 3:00pm, the thunderbolt hit, killing two boys on the spot.

The injured were rushed to M Abdur Rahim Medical College Hospital while two others died on the way to the hospital, said the OC.

Conditions of two others were critical, said Kazi Shamim Hossain, director of the hospital.

In Chirirbandar upazila, several people were catching fish in a pond in Dhakkhin Sukdebpur village when the lightning struck around 4:00pm, leaving two people dead, said Moinuddin Shah, chairman of Abdulpur Union Parishad.

Locals took the injured to Chirirbandar Upazila Health Complex where another breathed his last.

The deceased were Sazzad Hossain, 13, son of Aynul Islam, Apon Islam, 14, son of Babul Hossain, Hasan Ali, 12, son of late Siddique Hossain, and Mim, 13, son of Sazu Mondal, who were from Newtown area under Dinajpur municipality, while Nur Islam, 24, son of Mokshed Ali, Abdur Razzak, 23, son of Samu Mia, and Abbas Ali, 25, son of Altaf Ali, who were from Dhakkhin Sukdebpur village.