Lightning strike kills teenage boy in Thandwe Twsp

By DMG 29 Nov 2022

DMG Newsroom
29 November 2022, Thandwe

A 16-year-old boy from Chan Village in Arakan State’s Thandwe Township was struck dead by lightning on Monday afternoon, according to family members.

The deceased has been identified as Maung Phoe Thar aka Phoe Chit, who died after being struck by lightning while harvesting paddy on an area farmfield, said Ma Nu Nu Aye, a family member.

“He was struck by lightning while harvesting paddy, together with his parents, at around 3 p.m. The parents thought that their son was crouching because he was afraid of the lightning, and when they went to check, the child was no longer alive,” she told DMG.

According to a Department of Meteorology and Hydrology statement on Monday, untimely rainfall across Arakan State may be followed by additional inclement weather, including thunderstorms and hail.

U Hla Tun, director of the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology, told DMG in June that there would be more lightning strikes than previous years because of the heat this year.

Multiple lightning strike-related deaths are reported in Arakan State annually. The body of a woman who reportedly fell into a river after being struck by lightning in Ann Township, Arakan State, was recovered on May 4.

A woman from Angumaw village in Rathedaung Township was killed in a lightning strike on June 2. A woman from Udaung village in Maungdaw Township was killed by a lightning strike on July 19 of this year, and a farmer in Pauktaw Township was struck dead on June 13.