A footballer in Indonesia named Septain Raharja was killed due to a horrific lightning strike during a friendly match at Siliwangi Stadium in Bandung City. Two Indonesian clubs, FLO FC Bandung and FBI Subang, were facing off each other in the match.
The 35-year-old footballer hails from Subang, a Town in the Java district of Indonesia, and was playing in a friendly match in open space where the lightning struck him.
In a horrific video that captured the heart-wrenching incident, the lighting suddenly struck the player while the match was being played on the field.
Warning: Viewer discretion is advised.
The player died later during the treatment after he was rushed to the Sariningsih Hospital and was assisted by the players on the field, so he could be treated timely but fate was not in his favor.
People on social media expressed their absolute dismay at the horrific yet unprecedented incident.
Indonesia’s Weather Service issued a statement and said that “an individual becomes part of the main lightning discharge channel when struck by one”.
The effect of the lightning on the person is lethal because “the current moves along and just over the skin surface ‘called flashover’ and a portion of the current moves through the body usually through the cardiovascular and nervous systems”.
This is the second incident where lightning has struck a footballer in Indonesia, A young player was hit by lightning during last year’s Soeratin Under-13 Cup in Bojonegoro but he managed to survive after a cardiac arrest and unconsciousness for 20 minutes.