Horrifying memories of a man who was “missed by lightning” twice
At 11am, despite the scorching sun, Mr. Ria Ja Thoang (51 years old, Chu ru ethnic group, residing in Pro commune, Don Duong district, Lam Dong) still tried to move his herd of buffaloes out of the Pro field. When he was about 1km away from the Pro field, Mr. Thoang planted his umbrella on the ground and sat down to chat.
“In about 30 minutes to an hour, the sky will be covered with dark clouds and it will rain. At that time, if the buffalo herd is still near the field, the risk of being struck by lightning is very high,” said Mr. Thoang.
Mr. Thoang said he was once struck by lightning and was lucky to escape. He recalled that in 2014, while herding buffalo in the Pró field, during a thunderstorm, he had just put down his umbrella and some belongings on the grass and ran towards the irrigation dam to count the livestock. After leaving his position for about ten minutes, a lightning bolt struck right where he had placed his umbrella, tearing it to pieces. That time, he was lucky to escape.
On May 1, 2015, Mr. Thoang continued to be “visited by lightning” causing him to be hospitalized for emergency care.
“That day, at around 3 p.m., seeing dark clouds approaching, I carried my 8-year-old niece (my younger brother’s child) and ran into the family’s tin hut in the Pro field to take shelter from the rain. A few minutes later, 4 adults and 1 child working nearby also ran into the hut to take shelter. While the group was sitting and talking, lightning struck the hut,” Mr. Thoang recalled.
When lightning struck, Mr. Thoang himself fainted on the spot and was then taken to the hospital by locals for emergency treatment. The incident caused the death of an 8-year-old girl (Mr. Thoang’s niece) and his brother-in-law on the spot.
Mr. Ria Ja Thoang, one of the victims struck by lightning and luckily escaped (Photo: Minh Hau).
“I was taken to the emergency room and woke up 3 days later. When I woke up, I asked about my niece’s condition and learned that she had been struck by lightning and died in my arms. In that incident, 2 out of 7 people in the hut died, 3 were injured, and 2 were lucky to escape,” Thoang said.
According to Mr. Thoang, lightning struck the hut and to this day, even though nearly 10 years have passed, the family has not dared to return to the old location. On the mound of earth, the wooden walls of the hut have collapsed, lying haphazardly, the corrugated iron roof has also collapsed to the ground and is rusty.
According to Mr. Thoang, during the rainy season of 2016, a lightning bolt continued to strike the lawn, 20-30m away from the collapsed hut, but did not cause any human casualties.