Lightning injures 3 students in Southern Leyte

Tacloban City (CNN Philippines, September 26) — Three criminology students of the Saint Joseph College in Maasin City were indirectly hit and injured by lightning on Sept. 25, local authorities reported.

According to the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office of Southern Leyte, the incident happened around 6 p.m. at the Sunken Garden within the provincial capitol grounds in Maasin City.

Two of the students are recovering at the Southern Leyte provincial hospital.

The third one, identified as Jundel Suganob, was brought to the Eastern Visayas Medical Center (EVMC) in Tacloban City. The report said Suganob was unconscious, with unstable vital signs and was even intubated.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the school administration said the three students were hit by ground current after a lightning strike on a tree.

It said the students were at the capitol grounds for their annual criminology week activities when there was "a sudden burst of strong winds and downpour buffeted the areas associated with lightning flashes brought about by a thunderstorm.”

The school management has asked for prayers for the recovery of the students.