LIGHTNING killed a man in the southern town of Sogod and damaged the communication equipment of a police station in Daanbantayan in the north Tuesday night.
Joseph Coliflores Presbitero, 31, died before reaching the Juan Dosado Memorial Hospital in Sogod town.
Presbitero, a mechanic, had just opened the main door of his house in Sitio Lantawan, Barangay Damolog, Sogod when lightning struck at 7 p.m.
It happened an hour before lightning struck the Daanbantayan Police Station and damaged the station’s radio receiver, computer sets and TV set.
The six policemen on duty thought they were being attacked, desk officer PO2 Columbus Noynay said.
The police station is located in an open space and near the sea.
In the City of Naga, a nine-year-old boy drowned after getting swept away by a strong current while swimming in a river.
John Alimento Tolentino was with his friends, aged 15 and 14, swimming at the riverbank of Barangay Pandan at 2 p.m.
They were in a shallow part of the river when a strong current suddenly swept them away.
The two teenagers got help from two persons who were nearby.
Residents scoured the riverbank until they found Tolentino floating several meters away.
He was rushed to the Cebu South General Hospital but the attending physician said he was already dead when he arrived. (MEA/KAL with reports from Superbalita)