UGANDA: Lightning strikes 10 children dead during fierce storm

Tragedy struck in the north-western Uganda city of Arua after ten children were killed when lightning struck them dead while they were sheltering in a hut during a storm.

Reports say the children were playing football when heavy rain forced them to take a break in a nearby grass-thatched structure which was struck by lightning, killing all of them in the process.

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Local authorities said that nine children, aged 13 to 15, were killed on the spot while another died on the way to hospital.

Three survivors are receiving treatment at the regional hospital.

According to locals, Uganda’s north-western region has been experiencing severe rains coupled with thunder and lightning with the incident described as the worst accident of its kind in Uganda since 2011, when 18 children were killed at a school in the mid-western region.

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