Three secondary school students reportedly died from a lightning strike in Awka South Local Government Area of Anambra on Saturday.
News About Nigeria gathered that the lightning struck nine male students who were playing football barefooted on their school’s field with their friends.
According to reports, the senior secondary school students were practising with their coach on the football field in preparation for a tournament.
A lightning strike and thunderstorm enveloped the area, resulting in injuries to the senior students.
A teacher who heard the screams rushed to the field and found at least nine students convulsing on the turf. He raised an alarm, and the students were immediately rushed to the school clinic, from where they were transferred to a hospital in Awka.
Six of the nine boys were resuscitated and are currently undergoing treatment, while three of the students did not survive.
At the hospital in Awka, parents and sympathisers trooped into the ward where the survivors were receiving treatment.
When contacted, the police spokesman in Anambra State, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, stated that the incident had not been reported to the police.
Speaking about the incident, a consultant Pathologist at the University Teaching Hospital, Awka, Prof. Chukwudi Okani, noted that lightning could kill through electrocution via direct strike, side splash, or ground current strike.
A doctor who didn’t want his name mentioned said if the boys had been wearing shoes while playing, the impact would have been minimized, and their deaths might have been prevented.
He encouraged the people of the state to install lightning rods and be cautious to prevent future recurrence.
