The flood-ridden Sunamganj district of Bangladesh has been ranked the most lightning-prone place in the world on account of the number of lightning strikes between March and May this year.
The northeastern district was riddled with the most lightning strikes during the approximate three-month span of time in a study conducted by NASA and Maryland University in the USA.
NASA's Steve Godman led the study team that researched lightning data of the past 10 years.
Kinmara Demkop in Congo was placed as top lightning-hit place between December and February while Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela was termed the lightning capital of the world.
In the past three months, a total of 25 lightning strikes hit per square kilometre of Sunamganj due to the geographical positioning of the region.
The number of lightning strikes is increasing steadily. In 2014, a total of 918 lightning strikes hit the country. In 2015, the number increased to 1,218 and that rose to more than 2,500 in 2016.
According to disaster management department of the county, a least 1,152 people were killed by the thunderbolt strikes in the past seven years.
In the past five months of this year, at least 37 people out of the 62, who died in lighting across the country, were in Sunamganj.
Brac's director of the disaster and climate department Naim Gowhor told Prothom Alo that lightning strikes were recorded most in places where there were no trees.