Lightning strike kills 7 students, wounds 51

By Ehsan Khaleel
Asst Editor, SAM Daily Times

Lightning in Burundi killed seven high school students and wounded 51 others when it struck a classroom where they were sheltering from a ferocious storm, officials said yesterday.

“This was an exceptional disaster that hit not only our town, but also other areas of the country, when we should be in the dry season,” said Prudence Kabura, a local government official in Nyanza-Lac. As many as 500 houses were also destroyed by the heavy rains, he added. Last week lightning killed four people and wounded nine others as they sheltered inside a small church in eastern Burundi.