Lima, Peru: The dark clouds over the football field in Peru were not just of the weather kind that proved to be fatal when a player died from a lightning strike in mid match. Their match may have hard been a game between Juventud Bellavista and Familia Coca it rained and stormed all over. Soon it started to rain and during the rain the accident occurred and one player died.
The match was quite on course with the rain since the football game is not easily stopped by rain. However, as the rain had begun to pour heavily, the refree stopped the game and asked the players to leave the pitch. It started raining at the time when the players were coming of the play field and then there was a bolt of lightning followed another one that affected several players. In the case of one of the players from Bolivia, José Hugo de la Cruz Mesa, 39 years old, died right on the field because he got struck by a lightning. A team of his teammates was also affected and developed burns as well as injuries, and were taken to the nearest hospital.
One Is Gone, the Other Teeters
Nevertheless, five people were killed during the incident, amongst them the driver José Hugo de la Cruz Mesa, and another player is in critical condition. In other reports it is reported that the team’s goalkeeper Juan Choca was also affected by the lightning and was very seriously injured and is at the moment admitted in ICU. Doctors are now struggling to treat him as the community continues to mourn this early death. And it was, of course natural that the match was called off following the above-stated event on the day.
Similar Incidents Elsewhere
It is not the first time for several athletes to have been struck by lightning and died during a festival or a sporting event. In the similar incidence this year, three hockey players died in Simdega, Jharkhand India since they were taking shelter under a tree during a thunderstorm. The five others were injured in that sad incidence. Lightning remains a significant threat to athletes throughout the world especially during outdoor sporting activities.
CRAZY: Lightning killed a football player during a match in Peru and injured five others, they are in hospital with serious burns
What a crazy and a random thing. Insane. pic.twitter.com/aRZsRCaEJo
— First Source Report (@FirstSourceNew) November 4, 2024