An 80 year old woman, a resident of Adak village, Lukwir parish in Gulu was last week struck to death by lightening which also left her two grand children seriously injured.
Ms Elizabeth Ayoo died instantly after the house she was sleeping in with her grand children collapsed when the lightning struck the grass thatched hut they were sleeping in at around 11PM on Friday night.
Mr Walter Akena, the area LC II Chairperson says, “The lightning burnt Brenda Akello, 15, one of the two grand children.”
“Akello sustained serious burns on half of her face and back after the grass thatched roof collapsed on them when the pillar supporting the roof collapsed inward,” He said.
He appealed for any well-wisher to come to the rescue of the orphans who now have no support as their grandmother was the sole bread winner.
Akello and her elder sister Gloria Apiyo, 16, a Primary six pupil at Adak Primary School also sustained injuries.
They were both later rushed to St. Mary’s Hospital Lacor for treatment but Apiyo was discharged on Saturday after her condition improved while Akello is still receiving treatment for her burns.
Meanwhile, their grandmother was buried in a grave dug near Aromo stream which empties into Larwodo River.
Mr Alex Ojera Balamuko, 50, an elder in the area says the burial of the 80-year-old widow is in line with Acholi culture and beliefs practiced for centuries by the Acholi people.
According to Balamuko, a victim of lighnting is not buried at home because such a tragedy is likely to reoccur.
He said he has seen ten victims being buried near a water body in graves that are marked with an egg and spear which act as a mechanism to protect the deceased from future lightning.
He explained that, “We believe that lightning eats blood and as such burying a dead body near a water body will enable the bad omen to be carried away with the flowing water.”
In northern Uganda, majority of families live in grass-thatched houses which have no protective mechanism such as lightning arrestors to protect occupants from such eventualities.
