Lightning strike

Fourteen other people, including the groom, were injured. The bride was not with the wedding party.

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.

Local people said several bolts of lightning hit the group.

Every year, hundreds of people across South Asia are killed by lightning.

In 2016, Bangladesh declared lightning strikes a natural disaster when more than 200 people died in the month of May alone, including 82 people on a single day.

The Solomon Star newspaper reports the 20-year-old mother of two was working outside the family home in Baegu, North-East Malaita when she was struck, dying on the spot.

A close relative of the family told the paper the family was shocked by the incident and the entire community was in mourning.

A chief from a nearby village said the thunderstorm had raged over the area all of Tuesday and Wednesday.

It is unclear whether a police investigation will be launched into the death.

Most of the victims died instantly when lightning hit the church in the southern district of Nyaruguru, local mayor Habitegeko Francois told AFP.

Two people died from their injuries, and 140 people were rushed to hospital and health centres.

Lightning also killed a student in the area on Friday, the mayor said.

The weather accident in the mountainous region near the border with Burundi took place around midday on Saturday while parishioners of the town of Gihemvu were at a church service.