Footballer dies after being hit by lightning in Indonesia. Harrowing incident captured on camera

A man was playing a football match at Siliwangi Stadium in Indonesia when he was struck by lightning. A video of the chilling incident has gone viral.

A football match in Indonesia took a tragic turn when a player died in the middle of the game after being struck by lightning. As per reports, he was breathing after being struck but was pronounced dead after reaching the hospital. A video of the chilling moment is doing the rounds on social media.

The image shows the moment a footballer in Indonesia was struck by lightning. (Screengrab)

“Lightning struck a man during a football match in Indonesia,” wrote an X user while sharing a video of the incident. The clip shows the player standing in the field when suddenly he is struck by lightning. Instantly, he falls to the ground. The other players rush towards the footballer to help him.

The incident took place during a friendly match between two football teams at Siliwangi Stadium in Bandung located in West Java in Indonesia, reports local media outlet PRFM News. The outlet added that according to an eyewitness, the jersey the football player was wearing had scorch marks.

On February 10, the man was playing a football match and it started to rain. Soon after, he was struck by lightning. The other players rushed him to Sariningsih Hospital for medical treatment. However, he was declared dead.

How does lightning kill?

According to the National Weather Service, when a person is struck directly by lightning, like in the case of the footballer, they become a “part of the main lightning discharge channel”. This kind of lightning strike takes place when the victim is in an open space.

Though uncommon, this kind of hit is the most deadly as a “portion of the current moves along and just over the skin surface (called flashover) and a portion of the current moves through the body--usually through the cardiovascular and/or nervous systems”.