5 hurt after lightning hits coconut tree

By Glazyl Y. Masculino

BACOLOD City – Four persons felt ill while another was wounded in a lightning strike that hit a coconut tree in Barangay Manlucahoc, Sipalay City, Negros Occidental last Sunday.

The victims were all female aged 16 to 74.

Executive Assistant Dionilo Bogtae, head of the Public Safety and Sipalay Emergency Assistance and Rescue Services (SEARS), said the victims were at their respective houses when the rain occurred followed by a lightning strike around 6:30 p.m.

Some of the appliances of one of the three affected houses were damaged due to the impact of the lightning strike, Bogtae said.

He, however, clarified that these houses were not directly hit by lightning. It just so happened that they were near the coconut tree.

The victims were rushed to the hospital after some of them suddenly felt ill probably because of shock or nervousness, while the other suffered an abrasion in the shoulder.

Bogtae said they were already stable and no houses were damaged in the incident.