A lighting strike at a refugee camp in Uganda had killed 14 people, police say.
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.
An official told local radio that all those who died were children.
The incident occurred at Palabek Refugee Settlement in the north-west of the country. The area has recently seen heavy rains with thunder and lightning.
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.
Four years ago, lightning killed 10 children in the city of Arua, also in north-western Uganda.The children were struck while taking a break from a game of football.