Lightning killed three Senior Secondary School (SS3) students in Awka South Local Government Area of Anambra on Saturday.

A witness told journalists that the lightning struck nine male students playing football with their peers on the school’s pitch barefooted.

“The coach had ended the training session before the rain started, but some of the students stayed behind to continue playing football.

“Lightning, accompanied by claps of thunderstorms, suddenly enveloped the area, and the boys were struck in the process,” the witness said.

According to the witness, a teacher ran to the field after students screamed and took to their heels.

The witness said the students were rushed to the school clinic, where they were taken to a hospital in Awka.

“Six of the nine boys were resuscitated and are currently receiving treatment, but three did not survive. Their parents have been contacted,’’ the witness told journalists.

A resident, Hope Egwu, said the news of the accident went around on Sunday, and everyone had been held spellbound.

At the hospital in Awka, parents and sympathisers trooped into the ward where the survivors were receiving treatment.

A doctor, who requested anonymity, said three boys were brought into the hospital dead, but six others were revived.

“As of now, the parents of two of the dead boys have taken the corpses away while one is still in the mortuary.

“It is sad that they were playing on the field barefooted. If they had boots on, the impact of the lightning would probably have been minimised,’’ he said.

When contacted, the police spokesman in Anambra, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, said the incident had not been reported to the police.

Speaking on the incident, Chukwudi Okani, a consultant pathologist at the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital, Awka, said it was a natural disaster and not spiritual.

He advised that people should install thunder arrestors in their buildings to stave off electrical currents in the event of lightning.

(NAN)