Young shepherd killed by lightning strike in Kifri

KIFRI — A 14-year-old shepherd from Qori Chai village near Garmiyan’s Kifri city lost his life on Monday morning after being struck by lightning while tending to his flock.

Samad Sartip, director of Shahid Khalid Garmiyani Hospital in Kifri, told 964media that the boy’s body was brought to their facility and confirmed the cause of death as a lightning strike.

In a separate incident, a forest fire caused by lightning burned 124 acres of forest and grazing land in Sulaymaniyah’s Penjwen district on Sunday.

This year, lightning has caused significant casualties and damage, with regular reports of incidents. In the first seven days of May alone, lightning strikes killed five people and injured three others in the country.

On May 7, two individuals lost their lives due to lightning strikes. One, a Peshmerga, was struck while on duty, and the other, a 13-year-old boy, was struck near his home in Erbil while playing outside.

The day before, three other fatalities occurred due to lightning strikes. Two were in a village within Erbil Governorate, and another was a shepherd in a village within the Taza sub-district in Kirkuk.

In April, a Peshmerga from the 15th Brigade of the Kurdistan Peshmerga Forces lost his life due to a lightning strike while on duty in the Dibaga sub-district, part of Makhmour.