Five people were killed and another five injured after lightning struck two spots in Manikganj yesterday.

The victims are Abdul Barek, 45, Taher Alam, 46, and Aslam Hossain, 50, of Baira Katakhali village under Singair upazila and Nitai Sarker, 15, and Joyanta Sarker, 13, of Hargaj village in Saturia upazila.

Aslam had employed Barek, Taher and the five injured to harvest paddy with him on his land, Singair Police Station Officer-in-Charge Ali Imam told The Daily Star.

They were sitting by the cropland taking a break due to rains when they were struck by lightning around 1:30pm, he said, adding that Barek and Taher died on the spot.

The injured were taken to the sadar hospital where Aslam was declared dead and from where Bazlu, Amir and Idris were referred to Dhaka for better treatment, he said.

Nitai and Joyanta, students of class IX and VII respectively at Hargaj High School, were reportedly cutting grass when lightning struck them amidst approaching rains around 12:30pm.