Tragedy strikes as lightning kills three Secondary School students in Anambra

Lightning claimed the lives of three students from a Senior Secondary School in Awka South Local Government Area of Anambra on Saturday, as reported by the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday.

According to an eyewitness, the lightning struck a group of nine male students who were engaged in a barefoot football game on the school’s pitch. They had been practicing under the guidance of their coach for an upcoming tournament.

The coach had concluded the training session just before the rain began, but some of the students continued their football game. Suddenly, a lightning bolt, accompanied by thunderstorms, struck the area, resulting in injuries to the boys.

A teacher on the scene heard the students’ screams and rushed to find at least nine of them trembling and convulsing on the ground. An alarm was raised, and people gathered to assist. The injured students were swiftly taken to the school clinic and subsequently transferred to a hospital in Awka.

Out of the nine affected students, six were successfully revived and are currently receiving medical care, while three tragically did not survive. Their parents have been informed of the heartbreaking news.

Residents, like Mrs. Hope Egwu, shared that the accident’s news had spread throughout the community, leaving everyone in shock.

At the Awka hospital, parents and sympathizers flocked to the ward where the survivors were undergoing treatment. A doctor, speaking anonymously, revealed that three of the students had been brought to the hospital already deceased, but the other six were successfully resuscitated.

The doctor noted that it was a tragic situation and emphasized the importance of wearing proper footwear, suggesting that wearing shoes might have lessened the impact of the lightning strike.

While the incident had not been reported to the police, according to Anambra State’s police spokesman, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, a Consultant Pathologist at the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital, Awka, Prof. Chukwudi Okani, stressed that this was a natural disaster, not a spiritual one.

Okani explained that lightning could cause fatalities through direct strikes, side splashes, or ground current strikes. He recommended the installation of lightning arrestors in buildings to mitigate the risk of electrical currents during lightning strikes.