A lightning strike on Saturday, November 2, killed 14 people and injured 34 others in the Palabek Refugee Settlement Camp, located in northern Uganda’s Lamwo District.
The tragedy occurred as a group of refugees, mostly South Sudanese, gathered for evening prayers inside a makeshift metallic structure.
The lightning struck at approximately 5:30 p.m. local time (1400 GMT), just half an hour after rain began.
“The victims… had gathered for prayers when the rain started around 5:00 p.m., and the lightning thunder struck at 5:30 p.m.,” stated police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke in a report shared on Sunday.
The dead include mostly juveniles, among them a nine-year-old girl and a 21-year-old adult, according to Uganda Police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke.
None of the victims’ nationalities were officially confirmed, though the camp primarily shelters refugees from South Sudan, fleeing conflicts that erupted after its independence in 2011.
Rusoke said, “There was no report of fire breaking out following the strike,” but noted the region’s vulnerability to such incidents due to the lack of lightning protection in many structures.
Fatal lightning strikes, especially during Uganda’s wet season, have been common, particularly in schools and refugee camps with inadequate infrastructure.
“These refugees have already endured so much, and to face this level of tragedy again is deeply saddening,” said a representative from the UN Refugee Agency, which reports that Palabek Refugee Settlement houses over 80,000 people, mostly from South Sudan.
Uganda has a history of deadly lightning strikes, often affecting schools and informal gathering places without lightning conductors.
A similar tragedy struck in 2020 when ten children in Arua, northwest Uganda, were killed by lightning while taking a break after playing football
