A family’s visit to a beach turned tragic when a Venezuelan woman lost her life after a lightning strike had struck her on the Colombian Caribbean coast in Cartagena.
The unfortunate incident unfolded on Tuesday in the town of La Boquilla, where 34-year-old Froilanis Rivas was standing near the shore. Disturbing footage captured by a bystander revealed the moment she was jolted by a lightning bolt. A man walking nearby fell to the sand upon impact, quickly rising to his feet and running a few yards before stopping and looking back in shock.
Paramedics promptly transported Rivas, a mother of two, to Serena del Mar Hospital. Despite 45 minutes of resuscitation efforts after she went into cardiac arrest, she was ultimately pronounced dead.
This heartbreaking event occurred nearly two months after another lightning-related tragedy in Michoacán, Mexico. On September 15, a Mexican woman named Elvia de Jesús and a hammock seller, Felix Andres, were struck by lightning at Maruata Beach. De Jesús, walking behind her husband after leaving the water, and Andres, who was a few feet to the left, both fell victim to a bolt of lightning. While de Jesús’ husband found shelter under a canopy from the storm, she was struck and Andres experienced the shock less than a second later.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United States witnesses approximately 40 million lightning strikes hitting the ground each year. The annual likelihood of being struck by lightning is less than one in a million, and fortunately, around 90 percent of the victims survive.
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In 2023, National Weather Service data revealed that 13 people in the United States lost their lives due to lightning strikes, including three in separate boating and swimming incidents. This marked an increase from the 2022 count of 19 fatalities, up from 11 the previous year.
