Tragedy hit a wedding event as not less than 17 guests have been killed by lightning while fourteen others were injured.

According to the BBC, the sad incident occurred in Bangladesh but the bride was safe because she was not with the wedding party at the time of the lightning.

The news outlet reported that the party was disembarking from a boat at the riverside town of Shibganj, heading towards the bride’s house, when they were caught in a thunderstorm.

Several bolts of lightning hit the group, turning the joyful event into a tragicomic one.

Lightning-related killings across South Asia is a regular occurrence as hundreds of people lose their lives to the natural disaster every year.

The situation forced Bangladesh to declare lightning strikes a natural disaster in 2016 following the death of more than 200 people in May alone of that year, including 82 people on a single day, the BBC reports.

According to experts, the disappearance of many tall trees as a result of deforestation could be blamed for the regular lightning incidents in South Asia.

Tall trees are said to serve as shelter for humans living in lightning-prone areas as they draw lightning strikes.