A family outing at a beach ended in tragedy when a Venezuelan woman was struck by lighting and killed in the Colombian Caribbean coast province of Cartagena.
The lightning incident
Froilanis Rivas, 34, was standing near the shore of a beach in the town of La Boquilla last weekTuesday when she was jolted, footage filmed by a bystander showed.
A man could be seen walking near and falling to the sand upon the impact of the lighting bolt.
He subsequently rose to his feet and ran several yards before he stopped and looked back.
Paramedics rushed Rivas, a mother of two children, to Serena del Mar Hospital and spent 45 minutes attempting to resuscitate after she had gone into cardiac arrest. She was later pronounced dead.
Where does lightning strike the most?
The tragic incident comes nearly two months after a Mexican woman and a hammock seller were killed by lighting at a beach in Michoacán, Mexico.
Elvia de Jesús was walking behind her husband after they came out of the water when she and the seller, Felix Andres, were hit by a bolt of lightening on Maruata Beach on September 15.
While de Jesús’ husband managed to seek refuge under the canopy from the incoming storm, she was struck by lighting.
Andrés, was walking several feet to the left when he was shocked less than a second later.
How many people are struck by lightning?
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data shows that at least 40 million lightning strikes hit the ground in the United States each year.
The chances of being struck by lightning each year are less than one in a million, and at least 90 percent of the victims do survive.
National Weather Service data shows that in 2023, 13 people have been killed by strikes in the United States, including three people in separate boating and swimming incidents.
In comparison, 19 people died after they were struck last year, an increase from 11 in 2021.
