WARNING: Distressing content
A football match in southern Thailand has ended in tragedy after a lightning strike killed one player and injured 12 others during a violent monsoon storm.
Shocking video captured the moment lightning struck the pitch during the Golok Cup regional tournament at Santiphap Stadium in Narathiwat province.
Players were battling through torrential rain when a bolt hit the ground just metres away, sending a plume of smoke into the air and knocking several people to the ground.
Twenty-four-year-old footballer Safwan Awae was struck by the lightning and collapsed on the field. Spectators rushed to his aid before emergency crews arrived and provided medical treatment. He was taken to hospital but later died from his injuries.
Police confirmed 12 other people suffered burns in the strike, including 22-year-old Malaysian footballer Alif Ezzahan Zulkifli, News.com.au reported.
“Although the emergency medical team made every effort to save him, the victim succumbed to severe injuries sustained in the incident,” police chief Thun Sirikhunt said.
Awae had recently signed with FC Yala, which competes in Thailand’s League 3 Southern Region.
The club paid tribute to its new player in a statement posted to Facebook.
“Indeed, we belong to Allah, and indeed, to Him we will return.
“Condolences to the family of Safwan Awae, the new player of FC Yala.”
The incident has prompted renewed warnings about the dangers of playing outdoor sport during severe thunderstorms, with lightning strikes capable of travelling significant distances from the centre of a storm.
Earlier this year, two school girls and an elderly woman were struck by lightening in a freak thunderstorm in Perth.
Retired bus driver Michael Day was walking his daughter’s dog ‘Messi’ near Felstead Crescent in Hamersley about 9am when he was struck.
Little more than an hour later, two teenagers at Eastern Hills Senior High School remarkably suffered the same shocking fate. They were both rushed to hospital but discharged later.
Mr Day’s daughter Karyn Avalos describes her father’s survival as a miracle, believing the freak accident should have claimed his life.
“I feel like we’ve won Lotto by him just not dying,” she said.
“Like, I can’t believe it. He’s such a part of our everyday life I just can’t imagine him not being there. Thankfully it wasn’t his time.
“Dad’s in a lot of pain. I think when it happened he was still joking about and that’s typical dad, but I think now it’s all kind of sunk in for him.”
Mr Day remained in hospital on Thursday afternoon, battling “a lot of pain” and the harrowing realisation of how close he came to death.
“He’s got burns on his abdomen and inner thigh, and they’re just doing a CT and chest x-ray now because I think he hit his head and was unconscious for a while,” Ms Avalos said.
While the grandfather survived, the family is grappling with the loss of the four-legged protector who took the blow for him.
“The kids called Messi their hero, because who knows would have happened if Messi didn’t take the full brunt of the the electrical force,” Ms Avalos said.
“We’ve had Messi for 10 years. He sleeps with my daughter on her bed every night. We will really miss him. Mum’s in a lot of shock and sad.”
The tragedy struck during a routine that was a staple of the family’s daily life.
Ms Avalos said her father was a man of habit who refused to let the Perth weather get in the way of his devotion to Messi.
“It was like a normal day. So he will go play golf and then he comes to our house and picks up the dog and takes the dog for a walk,” she said.
“He goes out, rain, hail or shine, he comes over. He loves walking the dog, so he does it in any weather conditions. So that wouldn’t have stopped him.”
The incident was witnessed by neighbours, who raced outside to find the 78-year-old man lying on the ground in pain.
Messi the brown poodle was killed instantly from the strike.
“We heard the massive thunder crack and lightning,” the neighbour, who asked not to be identified, said.
“We heard someone kind of calling for help.
“He was saying ‘hello, hello’, he was lying there and the dog was lying on the ground, you could see it was all seared.”
According to the neighbour, the man complained of a sharp burning pain on his inner thigh.
“You could see a big bloody mark on the inside of his thigh. He also had big red marks along his chest,” they said.
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