Boy struck by lightning in Zamboanga del Sur

ZAMBOANGA CITY—A 16-year-old boy aboard a pumpboat was hit by lightning in the waters off Barangay Quarry around 7:15 a.m. on Saturday, May 26, police here reported.

Roger Harden Guillena Jr., a grade 8 student of Culabay National High School, was on his way to Tagbina town center in Zamboanga del Sur, when the incident happened, Police Brigadier General Emmanuel Licup, regional director of PRO 9, said.

Ronilo Ocang, a banca operator who witnessed the incident, said he saw Guillena, a resident of Purok Quarry, Barangay Abong-Abong, fell from the banca after the lightning struck the vessel.

He immediately reported the incident, prompting villagers in Barangay Quarry to search for the boy’s body at sea. It took an hour’s search before the boy’s body was found, Licup said.

“Cardiopulmonary resuscitation and other revival processes were conducted but to no avail,” Licup said.

The boy was brought to a hospital but the attending medical personnel of Tabina Rural Health Unit declared him dead.