A wave of thunderstorms turned deadly across Bangladesh on Saturday, claiming ten lives in lightning strikes across four districts, leaving communities in Brahmanbaria, Kishoreganj, Chapainawabganj, and Habiganj reeling.

From farmers in fields to a child at play, the victims’ stories, reported by Jago News district correspondents, paint a grim picture of nature’s sudden fury and the urgent need for awareness in a country increasingly vulnerable to extreme weather.

In Brahmanbaria’s Nasirnagar, the afternoon sky unleashed a barrage that killed five and injured one. Shamsul Huda, 65, Abdur Razzak, 40, young Zakia Begum, 8, Md Selim Mia, 64, and Md Zamir Khan, 22, were struck in separate incidents, their lives cut short as storms swept through. Hamida Begum, 45, survived but remains critically injured, now fighting for recovery in a local hospital. “It was so sudden,” said a neighbour, still shaken, describing how families scrambled for safety.

Kishoreganj mourned three losses in scattered tragedies. Faisal Mia, 28, from Srinagar village, Faruk Mia,65, from Rasulpur, and Kabir Mia, 25, from Hazarinagar in Kuliarchar upazila were struck down, each caught unaware by the afternoon’s wrath.

Abu Bakar, 60, from Araibaria village in Hossainpur was injured, his survival a small mercy amid the grief. “We heard the thunder, then screams,” said a relative, as villagers gathered to console the bereaved.

In Chapainawabganj, Md Kaimul, 40, a farmer harvesting paddy in Bulanpur village, Sadar upazila, became the storm’s sole victim. Struck in the afternoon, his body was returned to his family at their request, a sombre end to a day’s labour. “He was just trying to feed us,” his wife wept, surrounded by neighbours in a village now wary of the skies.

Habiganj’s Ajmiriganj saw tragedy at 5 pm, when Saju Mia, 20, son of Tajam Ali Mia from Demikandi village, was struck while bathing in a drain. The young man’s death stunned Kakailcheo union, where friends remembered his laughter. “He didn’t see it coming,” said a companion, staring at the now-quiet drain.

These strikes, claiming lives from an 8-year-old girl to a 65-year-old elder, underscore Bangladesh’s vulnerability to lightning, which kills hundreds annually, especially during monsoon season.