Lightning Strikes Injure Two in Indonesia

A sunny morning turned dark quickly as a fast moving thunderstorm moved over a funeral procession, striking two mourners in San Diego Hills, Karawang Barat, Indonesia on 13 April 2016.

Fellow mourners reported that the lightning struck the pair of men while they were making a phone call on their mobile device. One of the struck men suffered serious injuries and was rushed to the hospital in Karawang while the other received minor burns and was in a state of shock.

Earth Networks Total Lightning Network detected over 5,000 total lightning strikes during a 12-hour period on the day of the unfortunate incident. The video below shows a high frequency of lightning over San Diego Hills during the time of the strike. The purple strikes indicate in-cloud lightning while the yellow strikes indicate cloud-to-ground lightning strikes, like the strike that injured the two men.

Luckily, the seriously injured man was immediately helped by fast-acting attendees at the funeral procession. If you are ever in a situation where someone around you is struck by lightning, remember to follow these steps:

• Call the police or your local ambulance service
• Check to see if the victim is breathing and has a pulse
• If necessary, begin CPR until help arrives
• Remember, lightning can strike the same place twice so try to move the victim to somewhere safe if possible
• If more than one person is struck by lightning, treat those who are unconscious first