A lightning strike has reportedly killed an SSPDF soldier at the Sherikat Military Barrack in Torit County, Eastern Equatoria State.
According to a military officer, Sgt. Amarbak Aguer, 55, of SSPDF Brigade III was in his hut when the lightning struck on Tuesday morning.
“One of my soldiers, who doubled as the medical health officer, was hit by lightning in his house; he died immediately,” said Brig. Mariano Oholong Odungo, commander.
In a picture seen by Singaita FM, the hut in which Aguer was in with his family caught fire on one side.
However, the army officer says the soldier had just forced his wife and their two little children out of the house when the lightning struck.
“God is the one who told his wife to come out with the children. From there, lightning struck immediately,” Oholong claimed.
A lightning strike is a lightning event in which the electric discharge takes place between the atmosphere and the ground. Most originate in a cumulonimbus cloud and terminate on the ground, called cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning.
Most indoor lightning casualties and some outdoor casualties, experts say, are due to conduction. Whether inside or outside, anyone in contact with anything connected to metal wires, plumbing, or metal surfaces that extend outside is at risk.