A VILLAGE official was killed by lightning that hit a small community in the nearby province of Zamboanga Sibugay, the police reported.

Senior Superintendent Jose Bayani Gucela, Zamboanga Sibugay police director, identified the victim as Ayang Asaali, the village chief of San Roque, Payao municipality.

Gucela said they were informed by Asaali’s daughter that the victim went down of her house around 2 a.m. Tuesday at Sitio Tando, in the village of San Roque, amidst heavy downpour and thunderstorm to fetch rain water for household consumption.

Suddenly, the lights went off and bulbs were busted as well as electrical wirings burned by a strong lightning that struck amidst the heavy downpour.

Gucela said Asaali was found sprawled dead on the ground with burns all over her body around 3 a.m. of the same day when the victim’s daughter went out to look for her mother when the downpour stopped.(Bong Garcia)