A lightning strike killed 14 people during a church service at Uganda’s Palabek Refugee Settlement on Saturday evening, according to police reports. The incident also injured 34 others.
Local officials said all those who lost their lives were children. Heavy rains, accompanied by thunder and lightning, have recently impacted the north-western area where the camp is located.
Home to over 80,000 refugees, primarily from South Sudan, Palabek Refugee Settlement provides shelter for those fleeing conflict. The United Nations refugee agency confirmed the camp’s population size.
This tragedy echoes a similar incident four years ago in Arua, another area in north-west Uganda, where 10 children were killed by lightning while taking a break from a football game.
