A 54-year-old man was killed after lightning reportedly struck near a pitch where an amateur soccer game was taking place in the city of Bogor yesterday.
As reported by Viva, the game, which took place in the Bubulak subdistrict of West Bogor, was actually stopped for 10 minutes due to heavy rain and thunder, but the two teams decided to resume the match just as the weather was clearing up.
“Two minutes after the game resumed, lightning struck a tree near one end of the pitch,” said West Bogor Police Chief Commissioner Pahyuni.
One man, a spectator, was reportedly killed on the spot while seven others sustained unspecified minor injuries and were treated at a nearby clinic.
The police believe that lightning might have struck near the eight victims because one of them was using their cellphone at the time. However, experts say using a cellphone during a thunderstorm neither increases nor negates the chances one could get struck by lightning.
Lightning strikes are quite rare in Indonesia, though coincidentally this weekend also saw four people killed by a lightning strike in Lamongan, East Java while they were burying a body during a funeral.
Last month, three schoolchildren from Batam island were also killed after they were struck by lightning while fishing in a canal.
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