Three people were killed in lightning strikes on Wednesday in Banteay Meanchey and Kandal provinces, taking the total number of lightning fatalities in the first four months of this year to 17, according to a National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM) official.

Of the three struck on Wednesday, one man was hunting for frogs in a rice field in Banteay Meanchey’s Poipet town, one woman was sitting outside her home in the same province’s Phnom Srok district, and another man was riding his motorbike in Kandal’s Koh Thom district.

But the total of 17 lightning deaths this year is far less compared with the same period in 2013, when 35 people were killed and 24 injured, said Keo Vy, director of NCDM’s information department.

“The . . . death toll has decreased year on year, particularly in the last two years,” Vy said, crediting better education. One hundred and three people were killed nationwide by lightning last year.