A least eleven persons near the town of Guachaca in Colombia’s Sierra Nevada mountains in the Northern part of Colombia have died on the night of Sunday, October 05, 2014 following the lightening which struck while they were busy performing some religious rites in one of the rural hilly areas.
It was learnt that the lightening hit some members of the Wiwa ethnic group who were performing some religious activities known as a spiritual harmonisation which was headed by their leaders.
According to BBC reports, eleven people were found dead whereas about 15 sustained some injuries of second and third degree burns.
The army command in the district deployed some of their men whose timely intervention at the scene helped to save some of the victims who survived the tragedy. They subsequently flew the survivors to different hospitals in the Caribbean city of Santa Marta where most of them are currently receiving intensive care.
Some news men gathered that about 60 members of a tribe communed in a temple which was constructed with thatches when suddenly, a lightening struck which razed the building to the roots.
The President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos took to the social media precisely twitter and said, “Our solidarity is with the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta indigenous community.”
An concerned group known as The Colombian Indigenous Agency (Onic) have been going about seeking help from different families to assist the district with some relief materials.
In a statement, the agency disclosed that the Wiwa carries out “spiritual harmonisation rituals” when they are faced with internal disputes or environmental problems.
The Aircraft Used In Lifting The Survivors Of The Temple Lightening Tragedy To Hospitals On Sunday, October 05, 2014 (Photo Credit: Reuters)
