Lightning kills farmer in Negros Occidental

By Glazyl Y. Masculino

BACOLOD CITY – A young farmer died after being struck by lightning at Purok Enyam, Barangay Cambarus, Pontevedra, Negros Occidental, last Monday.

Police identified the victim as 21-year-old Neil Patrick Sarmiento from the same village.

Police Lieutenant Nanette Laurilla, deputy chief of the Pontevedra Municipal Police Station, reported that the victim was cultivating a rice field when it began to rain suddenly.

He sought refuge under a banana plant in an open field.

However, as he was about to operate a hand tractor, lightning struck him directly, according to Laurilla.

Laurilla said the victim’s aunt found him unconscious and brought him to the Pontevedra Rural Health Unit.

Due to the impact of the lightning strike, he was declared dead, she added.