30 primary school pupils injured after being struck by lightning while in class

Thirty pupils from Soy Primary School in Kakamega County are nursing injuries after being struck by lightning.

“The lightning struck 30 pupils at around 4.30pm on Monday. The students had just come from parade and were ready to leave for home when it started raining heavily and they had to seek shelter in their classes," said Deputy Head teacher Griffers Ochieng.

He says the rain was accompanied by loud thunderstorms and lightning, which struck the pupils while in class.

“The most affected are Standard Eight and Class Seven pupils and I am worried this incident might affect their academic performance since they are now afraid to attend classes when it is raining,” the teacher said.

Ochieng said they took the injured pupils to Likuyani health Centre and 10, who are in critical condition, have been transferred to Moi Teaching Referral Hospital Eldoret.  

“Some of the students were complaining of severe headache, chest pains, some said they could not see while others had injuries on their legs that look like burns,” Ochieng said.

He said following the incident, engineers from Eldoret have visited the school and are in the process of putting up lightning arrestors.

A parent identified as Agnes Simiyu urged the government to have lighting arrestors put up in other schools.

“Shoddy work done during construction of our schools will expose our children to danger, like what we have witnessed today, or cases where roofs are blown away by strong winds. This should be addressed to avoid such incidents in future,” she said.