A soccer participant was struck by lightning throughout a match over the weekend in Peru, killing him and wounding 4 different gamers in a horrific incident caught on a dwell video stream of the sport. The lightning bolt struck José Hugo De la Cruz Meza, 39, a defender for the Chocca Household staff, as gamers and referees had been strolling off the sphere on account of worsening climate on the Coto Coto stadium close to the town of Huancayo on Sunday, in response to Peru’s state-run Andina information company.
De la Cruz died instantly from the strike, Peruvian information shops reported, earlier than he was taken to a neighborhood hospital. The staff’s goalkeeper Juan Chocca Llacta, De la Cruz’s cousin, was left in critical situation, and three different gamers sustained burns.
The video of the strike reveals the gamers strolling calmly off the sphere when a flash of sunshine briefly engulfs Meza.
He and about half of a dozen different gamers instantly fall over. Llacta, who was strolling proper subsequent to Meza, and 5 different gamers who had been barely farther away, could be seen shifting once more shortly, with some showing to roll round in ache, however the clip doesn’t present De la Cruz transfer once more.
Video from after the match, which was ended after the lighting strike about 20 minutes into play, confirmed individuals scorch marks on the grass the place the lightning struck.
Llacta, who survived his critical accidents, informed Peru’s Day by day Mail newspaper on Monday that they had been strolling off the sphere along with their arms round each other simply earlier than the lightning strike.
“I let go of him, we took three steps and the lightning hit us,” he was quoted as saying. “… I felt a flash of sunshine in my head and my thoughts went clean, after which I do not bear in mind anything. I regained consciousness within the hospital. I thank God for giving me an opportunity at life. I am stunned I’m alive.”
Based on the newspaper, De la Cruz’s household held a wake for him in his hometown close to Huancayo, placing his fire-scorched uniform on show subsequent to his coffin.
The Day by day Mail reported his household was looking for monetary assist from native authorities to assist cowl the expense of the funeral, and for the longer term, as his spouse has been left to assist three younger kids on her personal.