Three students from Tansi College in Okpuno, Anambra State, were murdered by lightning.
On Sunday evening, the students were practising football on the school pitch when the incident occurred.
According to an eyewitness, the lightning struck nine male students who were barefootedly playing football with their peers on the school’s pitch.
“The students were practicing on the football pitch with their coach preparatory to a tournament. The coach had ended the training session before the rain started but some of the students stayed behind to continue playing football,” the witness who pleaded anonymity said.
“Lightning, accompanied by claps of thunderstorms, suddenly enveloped the area and the boys were struck in the process.”
The witness narrated that a teacher heard the students screaming and running and upon getting to the field, he saw at least nine students trembling and jerking on the turf. According to him, the teacher raised the alarm, and residents of the community gathered to help.
The boys were immediately rushed to the school clinic from where they were taken to a hospital in Awka. Six of them were resuscitated and are receiving treatment but three did not survive.
A doctor at the hospital who pleaded anonymity also confirmed that three of the boys were brought into the hospital dead, but six others were revived.
He said that the parents of two of the dead boys had taken the corpses away, while one was still in the mortuary.
The doctor expressed sadness that the boys were playing on the field barefooted, noting that if they had boots on, the impact of the lightning would probably have been minimal.
But police authorities in the state are yet to receive a report about the incident, according to the spokesperson of the Anambra Police Command DSP Tochukwu Ikenga.
Obi Mourns ‘Great Loss’
Following the incident, the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate for the 2023 election Peter Obi described the development as a “great loss”.
“I am greatly saddened by the unfortunate natural disaster that happened at Tansi International College, Awka this weekend. It was reported that 9 students of the College were struck by thunder, on Saturday, November 4, during a rainstorm,” he wrote on his X handle late Sunday.
“Sadly, three of the students lost their lives, while the rest are responding to treatment at the hospital. I commiserate with the bereaved families, students, and management of the College. May God give all the strength to bear this great loss.”