Pregnant woman killed by lightning in Volta Region

An 18-year-old pregnant woman was struck to death by lightning on Wednesday, June 15, 2022.

The incident which occurred at Penyi-Atiagorme in the Ketu North Municipality of the Volta Region comes some two weeks after a similar incident was recorded in the region.

Confirming the latest incident, the Municipal Director of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Patrick Kofi Akorlu, according to a Graphic.com.gh report named the victim as Etornam Agbeke.

He said the victim, who was five months pregnant, was rushing home from the Penyi market, to remove her grandmother’s clothes from the drying line when it started raining.

He said on reaching a spot close to a pool of water, the deceased was hit by lightning, and she fell into the water face-down.

“Terrified witnesses were unwilling to go near the body, insisting that certain rituals needed to be performed before the body could be removed from the puddle,” said Mr Ahorlu.

The NADMO Director disclosed that the husband of the deceased upon turning up at the scene was also prevented by the residents from going close to the body for fear that she was struck by the Famous Nogokpo gods, hence the need to prevent him from further incurring their wrath.

Hours after the incident, a team of policemen and the Deputy Director of NADMO, Bright Martin Dela, defied the odds and sent the body to Saint Anthony Hospital at Dzodze.

According to the report, a delegation of emissaries later sent to the Nogokpo shrine learnt that the gods had no hand in the death of the pregnant woman as she had committed no offence to incur the wrath of the gods.

The NADMO director, therefore, seized the opportunity to caution members of the public against moving outdoor when it is raining.

source: Ghana Web