Of the three victims, two were killed in lightning strikes and another in a house collapse outside the capital Dhaka during a storm that swept most parts of the country on Friday.

Violent storms in the past three weeks have left more than a dozen people dead, scores injured and hundreds of mud and bamboo homes flattened.

The storms have been blamed for the sinking last month of two crowded ferries which left more than 180 people dead and scores missing.

Senior government meteorologist Samarendra Karmakar said Saturday that storms were more severe this year compared to the past three years, with winds averaging 100 kilometers (62 miles) per hour.

The worst storm so far this season had a windspeed of 116 kilometersmiles) per hour, blew down power lines and left the capital Dhaka blacked out for a week.

A massive cyclone hit calamity-prone Bangladesh in 1992, killing more than 135,000 people.

SPACE.WIRE