KISORO, UGANDA – Fourteen students from St. Paul’s Rugarambiro Secondary School in Nyundo Sub-county were rushed to Kisoro Hospital this evening following a terrifying lightning strike that hit their classrooms during a heavy downpour.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!According to school authorities, a bolt of lightning struck the Senior One and Senior Two classrooms at around 2:30 PM today, an incident that triggered panic among students and sent shockwaves through the community.
The school’s headteacher, Obiyari Emmanuel, provided a grim account to the media at Kisoro Hospital, confirming the admission of all 14 rescued students and reporting that six are in critical condition.
“The incident occurred at around 2:30 PM during heavy rainfall today. Lightning struck the Senior One and Senior Two classrooms, causing panic among the students, who scattered in fear,” Emmanuel stated.
The headteacher withheld the names of the affected students pending family notification and expressed grave concern that the full scope of the incident is not yet known, as some students may still be unaccounted for and a search is ongoing.
He highlighted that most of the critically injured students were not wearing rubber-soled shoes during the strike, prompting an urgent public appeal to parents.
Emmanuel appealed to parents to provide rubber-soled footwear for their children as a preventive measure, especially during the rainy season, and advised students to avoid wearing open shoes at school.
“I am appealing to all parents to ensure their children come to school with rubber-soled shoes, particularly now that we are in the rainy season. We are praying for the swift recovery of our students and commend the quick response of our staff and the medical team at Kisoro Hospital,” Emanuel added.
All 14 affected students are receiving medical attention in the emergency ward at Kisoro Hospital as the search for any potentially missing students continues.
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