Fisherman Who Was Killed By Lightning While Fishing Has Been Found

Joint officers evacuate the bodies of victims who drowned after being struck by lightning

JAKARTA - A fisherman named Suriadi (39) who was reported missing on Friday, May 20 due to being struck by lightning while fishing in the waters of Kolaka Regency, Southeast Sulawesi, was found dead.

The head of the Kendari Basarnas, Aris Sofingi in Kendari, said the victim was found by a joint SAR team on the third day of the search operation in Tahoa waters, Kolaka District, Kolaka Regency, where the fisherman was reportedly struck by lightning.

"The victim was found by the joint SAR team dead at 07.15 central Indonesia time, about 1 nautical mile west of the last location where the victim was reportedly struck by lightning," he said.

The joint SAR team then evacuated the bodies of the victims who had been lying stiff to the mainland to be handed over to their families for burial.

Aris said the operation to search for victims on the third day involved personnel from the Kolaka SAR Post assisted by the crew of RB 307, Polair Kolaka, USN SAR, PMI Kolaka, Kolaka Police, the victim's family, and the surrounding community.

"With the victims found, the SAR operation is declared complete and closed, all elements involved in the SAR operation are returned to their respective units," he said.

The victim was previously reported to be fishing with two of his friends, Firman (28) and Jasman (25) using a longboat around Tahoa Waters on Friday (20/5) at 14:45 central Indonesia time.

But unfortunately, at around 15.00 central Indonesia time the boat used by the three was struck by lightning which caused them to fall into the sea, where conditions at that time were heavy rain.

Two of the victim's colleagues managed to survive, while the victim was missing until he was found dead after three days of searching.