Ugandan media reports say that lightning killed 18 children at a primary school in western Uganda on Tuesday, the latest in a series of deadly lightning strikes in the country.

State-owned newspaper The New Vision says the students died instantly as they were waiting for a thunderstorm to end at the Runyanya Primary School in the Kiryandongo district . The newspaper also said that 36 people were injured in the strike, which occurred at 4:30 p.m. local time.

The paper also reports that a separate lightning strike injured 37 children and two teachers at a primary school in the country's northern district of Zombo on Tuesday.

The report says that lightning strikes have killed more than 40 people in Uganda in recent weeks. Experts say a lack of lightning rods on many Ugandan buildings may be partly to blame for the high number of casualties in the country.