ZAMBOANGA City, Philippines - Lightning killed a fisherman on board a fishing boat off the waters of Tabina town in Basilan province, police reported Thursday.
Chief Inspector Ariel Huesca, spokesperson of the Zamboanga Peninsula Police Regional Office, said that the incident was reported to the Tabina Police Station by the owner of the fishing boat, Glicerio Gonzaga and his wife Evangeline, with their boat skipper Reynaldo Torres.
Huesca sai that according to Torres, he and 9 crewmen on board their fishing boat marked Wingston were sailing back to Tabina town when the lightning struck at around 5:42 p.m. on Wednesday.
One of the crew members of the fishing boat identified only as Edgar, a native of Vincenso Sagun town, Zamboanga del Sur, died on the spot.
Torres said that the victim was outside the deck when the lightning struck, which threw the victim off the boat.
Torres claimed they immediately conducted search and rescue, which last for five hours, to recover the victim but failed.
“The Tabina police chief Senior Inspector Andrew Limod immediately conducted ocular inspection and investigation on the ill-fated fishing boat to determine the claim was purely due to force of nature or foul play,†Huesca said.
He said the police commander found the fishing boat communication facility, composed of two-way radio, antenna and wire connections damaged as a result of the high voltage discharge by the lightning, which also created a crack beneath the fishing boat.