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Indonesia encountered yet another death of a player after being struck by lightning on February 10. Septain Raharja, a footballer from Subang, was struck by lightning while playing a friendly match between 2 FLO FC Bandung and FBI Subang on Saturday evening, when lightning suddenly struck him at around 4:20 PM, causing intense burn injuries to the footballer.
According to the Daily Mail, Raharja was still breathing after the lightning incident. The footballer was then rushed to the local hospital, as per the news outlet’s report, but couldn’t survive and passed away on the ride.
The 35-year-old was a resident of West Java, Indonesia, and became the second Indonesian footballer to be struck by lightning within a year.
A video of the incident went viral on X, with several football fans pouring in their tributes for the tragic death of Raharja in the comments. It has also led to several football teams in Indonesia taking a moment of Silence in the footballer’s memory.
Septain Raharja is not the first footballer in Indonesia to be struck by lightning within a year
Septain Raharja’s death marks the second incident within 12 months that a footballer was struck by lightning in the country.
The last incident took place on November 3, 2023, the first day of the Soeratin U-13 Cup, when a young footballer – whose name remains undisclosed - died during his match in Bojonegoro, East Java.
As soon as he was hit by lightning, he was immediately taken off the field and rushed to the hospital for treatment. The athlete had suffered a cardiac arrest but was revived successfully after medical assistance, regaining consciousness after roughly 20 minutes.
Sadly, Raharja was not as fortunate.
In the past year, accidents of athletes suffering at the hands of lightning strikes have also occurred outside of Indonesia.
Another footballer to have died by being struck by lightning in 2023 was Caio Henrique de Lima Goncalves. The incident took place in December 2023, in Brazil, when Goncalves – from the Uniao Jaiirense team - was playing a match against Unidos at the Jose Eleuterio da Silva Stadium on December 10.
During the match, a massive lightning bolt struck the ground, injuring seven players on the field. While the six other players recovered over time, Goncalves was the only one who ended up dying because of his severe injuries.
As per the news outlet, the Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), Indonesia’s Meteorology, analyzed the lightning strike after the accident at Siliwangi Stadium. The analysis revealed that the lightning came from a cloud that was hanging just 300 meters above the stadium when Raharja was struck by it.
In memory of the deceased Septain Raharja, the players of FBI Mageland and Erka bowed their heads in silence for several minutes before they began their match.
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