Lightning kills dozens in Bangladesh, but cellphones not to blame

A theory that cellphones contributed to the lightning strike deaths of more than 60 people during violent thunderstorms across Bangladesh last week isn't true, a U.S. meteorologist said.

"This is a myth!" said John Jensenius, a lightning expert with the National Weather Service, in an e-mail to reporters. "Lightning is not attracted to metal objects or cellphones."

Lightning strikes taller objects, Jensenius said in an online release.

"People are struck because they are in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said. "The wrong place is anywhere outside. The wrong time is anytime a thunderstorm is nearby."

Most of the 64 lightning deaths late last week were in rural Bangladesh, where farmers are busy with the current harvesting season, leading Bengali-language newspapers Prothom Alo and Samakal told the AP. The reports of casualties could not be verified independently, the wire service reported, with lightning deaths not usually monitored by government agencies.

Experts in Bangladesh told the Associated Press that increased deforestation and people's exposure to metal equipment such as cellphones were the reasons behind the recent lightning deaths there.

“We’ve not seen such a huge number of deaths due to lightning before,” said Reaz Ahmed, the head of Bangladesh's disaster management agency, according to Press TV. "We’ll ask the people not to work in open spaces such as farmland, avoid the use of electronic gadgets such as mobile phones and not to stand under metal electric poles or big trees during lightning,” Ahmed told the network. The disaster agency has reportedly launched a campaign to create awareness about the dangers of being outside in a thunderstorm, Press TV said.

So far this year, lightning has killed five Americans – a high number for so early in the spring/summer thunderstorm season, according to Jensenius. On average,  31 people die each year due to lightning strikes in the U.S., based on data from 2006-2015. That's an improvement over decades ago: In the 1940s, lightning killed hundreds of people each year. In 1943 alone, 432 people died.

Deaths have dropped as far fewer farmers are out working in fields today as compared to decades ago, according to Jensenius..