A soccer player in Peru died after he was struck by lightning this week, according to local news reports, an incident captured on video in an arresting reminder of the dangers of being outdoors in a storm with lightning.
The player, José Hugo De la Cruz Meza, was involved in a regional tournament game between two low-level local teams, C.D. Juventud Bellavista and U.D. Familia Chocca, in Huancayo, Peru, when lightning struck the field, the Peruvian newspaper La República and other local news media reported.
Mr. Hugo De la Cruz Meza was pronounced dead at a hospital, according to La República.
Four additional players in the game were hospitalized. All have been discharged, according to local media.
As a storm got worse, the game was paused. But as the players were making their way off the field, lightning struck.
A video of the incident on Sunday shows a flash of light and then several players instantly dropping to the ground.
One of the injured players, Juan Chocca, the brother-in-law of Mr. De la Cruz Meza, told La República: “I was just walking out with Hugo hugging each other. I took three steps after letting go of him, and the lightning struck us.”
“I felt a flash of light; I felt it reach my head, and my mind went white,” he said. He lost consciousness and woke up “connected to different devices.”
The lightning bolt most likely struck the ground and then was felt by all the players, according to Chris Vagasky, a safety specialist with the National Lightning Safety Council, an American nonprofit.
“One of the big misconceptions is that you have to be directly struck by lightning,” Mr. Vagasky said. “But electricity travels through the ground as well. That happens extremely quickly, in microseconds. It’s going up each player’s leg, through their body and down their other leg.”
Only about 5 percent of lightning victims are directly struck, Mr. Vagasky said. Others are affected by current traveling through the ground, electricity jumping from an object like a tree or a pole, or are touching an object like a fence that is struck by lightning.
Over the last 10 years, lightning has killed about 20 people a year in the United States, Mr. Vagasky said, and that number has been dropping because of improvements in weather forecasting and dissemination of safety information. The danger is real, though, and it explains why outdoor sporting events are halted in lightning storms, even games like football and soccer, which typically go on in bad weather.
In an interview, Mr. Vagasky answered questions about lightning safety. This conversation has been edited.
What should you do if lightning seems imminent or starts?
If you’re outside in any situation, run as fast as you can to a lightning-safe place. Go to a fully enclosed metal vehicle, or a substantial building. By substantial, we mean with four walls and a roof, with electricity and plumbing. If lightning strikes a vehicle or the building, the electricity flows around you and not through you.
We’ve seen a lot of people standing under trees. We’re reminding people to “flee the tree.”
If someone is struck, what can you do?
The most important thing to remember is that someone struck does not hold on to an electric charge. You can start first aid immediately. Call 911 and get paramedics on the way. Start CPR if they are not breathing. Ninety percent of victims survive, but you need to start first aid right away.
What activities are especially risky in a storm with lightning?
The top three are water related: fishing, being at the beach, or on a boat. You’re around water, and you’re generally the tallest thing. Lightning likes to strike things that are tall, pointy and isolated.
Get inside. There is no safe place outside in a thunderstorm.
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