Lightning strike kills 14 at prayer service in Uganda refugee camp, police say
(CNN) — A lightning strike killed 14 people during a prayer service in a refugee camp in Uganda on Saturday, authorities in the east African country said.
The strike, in northern Uganda’s Lamwo district, injured 34 others, police said in a Sunday statement.
“The victims, yet to be identified, had gathered for prayers when the rain started around 5:00 PM, and the lightning thunder struck at 5:30 PM,” Kituuma Rusoke, a spokesperson for the police force, said on social media.
The Palabek refugee camp is on the Uganda side of the country’s border with South Sudan, and houses around 80,000 people, the majority of whom have traveled from the country, according to the Lamwo District.
South Sudan has continued to face instability since a civil war formally ended in 2020.
Lightning strikes are particularly common in Africa’s central belt, and have occasionally caused deadly incidents in Uganda.
In 2020, the BBC reported that a strike in north-west Uganda killed ten children. And in 2011, another strike killed 18 children and their teacher, Reuters reported.
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