Three people, including two women, died in lightning strikes in Zajira and Bhedarganj upazilas of the district on Monday evening.
The deceased were identified as Amena Begum, 30, daughter of Altu Majhi, a resident of Pinepara village of East Naodoba union of Zajira upazila, Abdul Hannan, 27, son of Tahibur Hossain, resident of Gunagram of Telipara area of Jaldanga upazila of Nilphamari district and Kulsum Begum, 35, wife of Neshar Uddin Majhi, a resident of Barchakki village of Charcensus union in Bhedarganj upazila of the district.
Amena Begum died on the spot in a lightning strike when she was searching for her mother in the rain, officer-in-charge (OC) of Padma South Police Station Sheikh Shariful Alam said.
Construction worker Abdul Hannan was killed in a lightning strike while he was working at a house of Ashrayan Project at Baburchar of Kunderchar union in Zajira upazila, Akter Hossain Bepari, chairman of Kunderchar Union Parishad said.
Kulsum Begum died on the spot in a lightning strike at her house, Charcensus Union Parishad Chairman BM Anwar Hossain confirmed.
Lightning hurts 21 madrasah students in Faridpur
In Faridpur, at least 21 students of the Madinatul Ulum Madrasah in Nagarkanda upazila of Faridpur were injured by a lightning strike on Monday, with 11 of them having to be hospitalised.
The hospitalised students' names are Hossain, Samiul, Mujahid, Rezaul, Oliullah, Mustakim, Sajim, Maruf, Abdur Rahman, Riyad, Bayezid.
According to Maolana Keramot Ali, the mohtamim (trustee) of the madrasah, as evening fell amid rain on Monday, a thunderbolt struck the courtyard of the madrasah.
At the time, some 21 students, all third-graders at the Nurani section of the school, who were enjoying the cool shower from the madrasa building's balcony, were injured.
Fellow students and teachers rushed all 21 of them to the Nagarkanda Upazila Health Complex, where 10 could be released after primary treatment.
The rest remain under treatment.
Lightning hit Padma Bridge toll plaza, caused 3km long tailback on Mawa end
Besides, a lightning strike at the Mawa toll plaza of the Padma Bridge disrupted toll collection, leading to a three-kilometre tailback on Tuesday morning.
The vehicle movement is normal now.
"The lightning that hit the toll plaza between 3am-4am this morning caused issues with the motherboard at the toll scale," said Md Amirul Haider Chowdhury, additional director of the Padma Bridge site office.
He said this was not a major issue but a typical electrical short circuit caused by the lightning. Ziaul Haider, in charge of Mawa traffic police, said the toll scale that operates the boom barrier (the barrier that comes down in front of vehicles to halt them) stopped working in the morning.
No vehicles could cross the bridge due to this.
"The issue was resolved around 10:30am and toll collection resumed," he said.
