Dhaka: A lightning strike during prayer in a refugee camp in Uganda has killed 14 people and injured 34 others, authorities said.
A police statement said on Sunday (November 3). Earlier on Saturday (November 2), the lightning strike occurred in the Lamwo district of northern Uganda.
Uganda police spokesman Kituma Russo said on social media that the rain started around 5pm on Saturday while the congregation was gathering for prayer and the lightning struck at 5.30pm.
A CNN report confirmed this information.
The report said that the lightning strike occurred in the Palabek refugee camp in the Lamwo district of northern Uganda which is located on Ugandan territory near the border with South Sudan.
The camp is home to about 80,000 refugees. Most of them are from South Sudan, according to the Lamwo district authorities.
South Sudan officially ended its civil war in 2020, but instability in the country continues.
Lightning strikes are particularly common in the central African region. Uganda has seen such tragic accidents from time to time. In 2020, 10 children were killed by lightning in northwestern Uganda.
In another incident in 2011, 18 children and their teacher were struck by lightning, according to a BBC report.