Mexican man killed by lightning while playing football

MEXICO CITY - An amateur football player was killed by lightning in Loma Bonita on the outskirts of the eastern Mexican city of Veracruz, police said. Efrain Pea was on the field with his team playing a local league match in bad weather Monday.

In the 55th minute, three consecutive lightning strikes occurred, one of which knocked down the 18 players on the field, killed the 24-year-old Pea and injured Octavio Corsino, 22, Felipe de Jesus Contreras, 31, and Ezequiel Alfonsin, 35.

Before the match, the umpire warned the players about the danger of the storm, but “they wanted to play and didn’t care about the bad weather”, police said.

The lightning bolt electrocuted Pea as it entered his mouth, according to the initial investigation, and exited through his right leg.

–EFE