Lightning strikes children playing football in Uganda, kills 10, injures others

No fewer than ten children aged 11 to 16 have been killed while four others were left injured after lightning struck them while sheltering from a storm during a football game in northern Uganda, on Friday, 28 August.

According to police report, the children had been playing football when it began to rain, they decided to shelter from the storm in a makeshift structure in Arua city, northwest of the capital Kampala on Thursday before the lightning struck them..

“The children, were sheltering from the rain in a grass-thatched house when the lightning struck Thursday evening.

“They had been playing soccer in a nearby field.” Four other children were injured.

“Relatives have been picking up the bodies from the mortuary since yesterday and the burials are taking place from today,” police spokeswoman, Josephine Angucia said.

She further explained that deadly lightning is commonly reported in the East African country during the wet seasons, while urging children to avoid playing in the rain.

“The football pitches are usually within or near schools.

“It’s advisable for schools to fix lightning arrestors so that we offer protection to our children,” she added