Africa
6 years ago

Lightning strikes Rwanda church, killing 16

Picture used for illustrative purpose only.
Picture used for illustrative purpose only.

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At least 16 people were killed and 140 others injured in Rwanda when lightning struck a Seventh Day Adventist church in the country's south, a provincial governor says.

The churchgoers were injured and rushed to a nearby hospital, where two were in serious condition, Rose Mureshyankwano said on Sunday.

She said 17 of those injured were still in the hospital, while the rest had been discharged, reports AP.

A similar incident occurred on Friday when lightning struck a group of 18 students, killing one.

Images shared by local authorities showed crowds of people, along with officials, observing caskets in Nyaruguru district.

Saturday's church incident comes less than two weeks after the closure of more than 700 Rwandan churches for failing to comply with building regulations and for noise pollution, according to a BBC report.

Last October, lightning killed 18 people in different parts of the country.

Lightning strikes are frequent across Rwanda, which has many hills and mountains, and the country's police record a number of human and livestock deaths each year.

Lightning killed 30 people, injured 61 and killed 48 livestock in 2016, the most recent year with full figures, according to Rwanda's Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs.

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