Severe Thunder And Lightning Leaves Four Dead At Serekpere

File photo of thunder

Residents of Serekpere, a community in the Nadawli-Kaleo district of the Upper West region were thrown in a state of mourning after four men were struck to death by a thunderstorm.

The incident was said to have occurred at around 4pm on Wednesday, July 13, 2022, during a heavy downpour.

The sad event that shocked the residents left many in fear over the development. The shocked community members told Ghanaweb that the unfortunate incident was the first of its kind to have hit the community.

Since the incident happened, there have been varying accounts of what might have led to the demise of the four through the thunderstorm.

While some see it as a natural occurrence by the Almighty, others are however linking the incident to some age-old spiritual beliefs associated with thunderstorms.

Narrating the incident, the Assembly member of the area, Hon. Titus Mombu said:

"Yesterday in the evening around 4 o'clock, I was in a meeting at the Assembly when I received a call that thunder had struck and killed some people in my community.

So after telling the Presiding Member of the Assembly, he also informed the House indicating to them the reason I was taking an early leave. It was in the presence of the Police Commander (when I received the information), so he gave me some of his men to come and inspect the bodies and convey them to the hospital.

But because such incidents have spiritual connotations, after inspecting the bodies by the police, the elders asked them to wait for some rituals to be performed before they could convey the bodies. So after the necessary rituals were done, the Police came to a compromise to allow the people themselves bury the corpses following a plea by the elders."

"However, out of the four people that died, one of them was an alien but the three others are all my relatives. So the relatives of the deceased alien came to inspect the body, and also agreed to have him buried in the community alongside the others after the rituals were performed. So together, we buried them here. Two of the deceased are in their 50s, whiles one is in his 30s and a teenager who's between 13-14 years of age. The incident has really shocked the residents since nobody knew such a thing could happen here. For me, I don't think this should bring about any fears as I believe it's God that's called them (to eternity) and nothing else."

When Ghanaweb spoke to the Regional Crime Officer of the Police Command, Chief Superintendent Reynolds Manteaw, he confirmed the incident and said the remains have since been buried in line with the Muslim custom.

•ghanaweb.com

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