Lightning Kills 3 Farmers, Hurts 3 Others in Albay

LIGAO CITY, Sept. 8  -- Three farmers died while three others were hurt seriously when they were hit by a lightning bolt during a heavy downpour Tuesday afternoon in Barangay Tinampo, this city.

Police identified the fatalities as Reynaldo Prias, Jogi Pobar and Miguel Olazo, all of Barangay Tinampo.

Injured were Joel Borromeo, 34, Rogelio Prades, 32, and Anthony Realingo Borromeo, 19, of the same village.

Vice Mayor Patricia Gonzales Alsua, quoting police reports, said the victims were rushed to the Dona Josefa Belmonte Memorial District Hospital where three of them were declared dead on arrival by attending physicians due to third degree burns they sustained. The other three were placed under observation.

The elder Borromeo was transferred later to the Bicol Regional Teaching and Training Hospital (BRTTH.

Alsua, in a phone interview, said the incident took place at around 2 p.m. Tuesday during a sudden downpour with thunderstorms in a rice field in Barangay Tinampo.

She said as the rains poured, the victims sought refuge in a nipa hut which was subsequently hit by a lightning bolt. (PNA)