A lightning strike during a prayer gathering at a church in Uganda’s Palabek refugee camp killed 14 people and injured 34 others on Saturday, according to police reports.
The tragedy occurred in Lamwo district, located in northern Uganda, as heavy rain began around 5:00 p.m. local time. Police reported that lightning struck at approximately 5:30 p.m., affecting a group gathered for evening prayers.
Most of the victims were young, including a nine-year-old girl, police said in a statement on the X platform on Sunday. Authorities have not yet identified the nationalities of the victims, but the camp, like others in the region, primarily shelters refugees from South Sudan. Many of these refugees fled their homeland following the outbreak of civil war soon after South Sudan’s independence in 2011.
Fatal lightning incidents are not uncommon in Uganda, particularly in areas where buildings lack lightning rods, such as schools and temporary shelters.