2 Residents Of Sampit, Central Kalimantan, Were Killed By Lightning While Taking Shelter In A Cottage

SAMPIT - Two residents of Sampit, East Kotawaringin, Central Kalimantan, Yoyok Siswanto (41) and Zainul Arifin (42) died from being struck by lightning while sheltering in a hut.

"It happened on Saturday (19/6) at around 17.00 WIB. There was an incident where people were struck by lightning which resulted in two deaths," said Ketapang Police Chief AKP Samsul Bahri, quoted by Antara, Sunday, June 20.

The unfortunate incident occurred at Jalan Jenderal Sudirman km 11 Sampit – Pangkalan Bun. The location is about one kilometer from the highway to the right of Sampit.

The location of the incident is an oil palm plantation area belonging to residents of RT 11, Pasir Putih Village, Mentawa Ketapang District, while the two victims are residents of the Wengga Metropolitan Housing in Baamang Barat Village, Baamang District.

At that time, Yoyok Siswanto and Zainul Arifin visited Sugianto's oil palm plantation. The two victims came with four of their colleagues.

Around 16.00 WIB while they were busy talking, it started to rain. They then took shelter in a hut which was located side by side with Sugianto's cottage.

According to Sugianto's statement to the police, at around 16.30 WIB, a lightning strike began. Unfortunately, a very hard lightning strike hit the hut where the six friends were taking shelter.

Yoyok Siswanto and Zainul Arifin were affected by the lightning strike. Upon examination, both victims were dead. Meanwhile, the other four victims were not injured in the incident.

The incident was immediately reported to the police. The bodies of the two victims were then evacuated using an Indonesian Red Cross ambulance to the morgue of Dr Murjani Sampit Hospital.

"Four other friends of the victim, escaped and were not injured. At around 20.00 WIB, the bodies of the two victims were brought home by the family to be buried in the funeral home and buried," said Samsul Bahri.