20 killed in Congo-Brazzaville as lightning triggers electrocution

Twenty people were killed on Wednesday when a lightning strike damaged a high-voltage power line in a suburb of the Congolese capital Brazzaville, the local mayor and witnesses said.

The mayor of Kintele, Stella Mensah Sassou Nguesso, told state radio that seven bodies had been sent to a nearby morgue and another 13 to a mortuary in the capital.

An eyewitness said lightning “cut through two high-voltage cables,” electrocuting people on the ground.
The witness further revealed that one of the cables landed on a house and electrocuted three people to death. Other victims were electrocuted as they tried to save the former three victims.

Amateur videos were uploaded to various social media pages indicating authorities rushing in to save a few injured victims. The incident occured on the first day of a month-long lockdown. The country has so far recorded 22 cases of coronavirus with two deaths.