BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – A senior citizen was killed while a minor was seriously injured in a lightning strike in Barangay Puey, Sagay City, Negros Occidental on Tuesday afternoon.
Authorities identified the fatality as 60-year-old Bernardo Tapia while the injured was 17-year-old Aaron Paul Matarong.
According to the Sagay City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office, Matarong and Tapia were working on the pigs they were raising when it started to rain.
Tapia, Matarong and four other people immediately sought shelter in a nearby shed.
The shed was later hit by a lightning strike, electrocuting both Matarong and Tapia, while the four other occupants of the shed were thrown away by the force of the strike.
Both victims were rushed to the city’s district hospital but Tapia was declared “dead on arrival” by hospital staff.
The four other individuals, meanwhile, were reported to have been unharmed in the incident./PN
