On Sunday (3 Nov), a lightning strike claimed the life of a Peruvian football player and left four others injured.
39-year-old Hugo de la Cruz Meza, a defender for local league football team Juventud Bellavista, was playing a match against Familia Chocca when a lightning bolt struck him unexpectedly. The incident happened in the 22nd minute of the match where de la Cruz’s team was 2-0 up.
Footage of the game has since circulated online. The players were seen walking off the pitch as the game was temporarily halted due to a storm, reports CNN.
Source: El Chaski Deportivo on Facebook
A bolt appeared abruptly, catching the players off-guard. It then struck a player from the back before leaving a trail of smoke behind.
Several other players nearby were also seen falling face-first due to the impact of the bolt.
Source: El Chaski Deportivo on Facebook
A few seconds later, the players were seen to be moving, seemingly in a conscious condition, and struggling to get on their feet. One player, de la Cruz, remained unmoving.
Four of the players were then taken to hospital for treatment. As of Monday (4 Nov), two players have been discharged while the other two remain in observation.
One of them, a goalkeeper, remains in critical condition but has shown signs of improvement.
“We join in solidarity and extend our sincere condolences to the family of young Hugo De La Cruz, who, after being struck by lightning, unfortunately, lost his life while being taken to the hospital,” the local municipality said in a statement posted online. “We also express our support and wishes for a speedy recovery to the other four players injured in this tragic accident.”
Local authorities believe that de la Cruz was struck due to the metal bracelet on his wrist. An official said that the bracelet attracted the lightning bolt “like a magnet”, reports the Telegraph.
According to a study by the National Weather Service, metal provides a path for lightning to follow via conduction. Hence, a person in contact with metal objects both indoors and outdoors is “at risk” of a lightning strike in the event of an alert.
There have also been multiple fatal lightning strikes during football matches. In Singapore, an 18-year-old player was killed after lightning struck him during training at Jurong Stadium.
Recently, a group of students were enjoying a game of football amidst a rainstorm in Vietnam when one of them was fatally struck by a bolt.
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Featured image adapted from El Chaski Deportivo on Facebook.
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