Lightning strike kills 3 in Bulacan

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

PULILAN, Bulacan — A teen and two children were killed Tuesday by a lightning strike in a rice field in this town.

Pulilan police chief Colonel Jerome Jay Ragonton identified the victims as Rexter Enriquez, 16; April Almorade, 11; and Roxane Enriquez, 12, all of Sitio Tangos, Barangay Inaon.

Ragonton said the lightning strike occurred around 3 p.m. when the victims, with five cousins, were playing under a mango tree in the middle of the rice field.

An initial investigation showed that the victims decided to head home when they noticed the sky darkening and rain approaching.

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But while on their way home, they heard thunder and felt an electric shock, according to a victim’s companion.

The three victims were then found lying on the ground and immediately taken to a hospital, where they were pronounced dead on arrival.

Widespread heavy rains were experienced in Bulacan, Metro Manila, and many parts of the country on Tuesday, which the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration attributed to the southwest monsoon, or “habagat.”