A 30-year-old farmer, Favour Kamasah, and her one-year-old son, Kofi Semenyo, were killed by lightning at Ahlepedo-Dukpome, in the Akatsi South Municipality of the Volta Region.
The Assembly Member for the area, Mr Wemegah Eli, said Favour and the son died on the spot when they were struck by lightning on the farm while the mother was harvesting groundnut at about 3:00 pm on Thursday.
“Favour and some farmers were about to leave their farms after experiencing cloudy weather, when the incident happened,” the Assembly Member said.
He said that Favour had strapped her son at her back when they were struck by the lightning.
The police at Akatsi conveyed the bodies to the St. Paul’s Hospital Morgue for further examination after elders of the community have performed traditional rites.
Some residents, who spoke to the GNA, said the unusual incident had put them into a state of fear and panic.
It is recalled that in May, this year, lightning accompanied by a thunderstorm struck three teenagers in Ho, in the Volta Region, killing a student of the Sokode Senior High Technical School, instantly and leaving two others unconscious.
The family of the deceased, suspected their relative, Emmanuel Dorli, 17, a coconut seller, was struck by a “thunder god” and, therefore, they went to consult the oracle at the Nogokpo shrine.
Ghana is more prone to thunder strikes than other West African countries, according to a Spanish lightning protection company, Aplicaciones Technologicas.
The country is reported to have 10 lightning strikes per square kilometre in a year due to its closeness to the Equator, thereby placing it in the danger zone of thunderstorms.
Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of an average of one gigajoule of energy. -GNA
