Lightning strike kills footballer and injures 12 others during match

A footballer died and 12 players were injured after lightning struck during a match in Thailand. 

Sofwan Awae, 24, suffered serious injuries after a bolt of lightning struck the football pitch at Santiphap Stadium in Sungai Golok, southern Thailand, on Tuesday. 

The player died after succumbing to his injuries despite efforts by medical teams, police said. 

Footage captured a lightning bolt strike through heavy rain and near players on the field, which was followed by a loud bang. 

Mr Awae's teammates, dressed in black-and-white kit, ran to his side, turned him on to his back and performed CPR. Crowds then gathered around the injured player.  

Police said 12 players, including a 22-year-old Malaysian-national, were injured and taken to Sungai Kolok Hospital.  

Mohamad Alif Ezzahan Zulkifli returned to Malaysia for treatment. 

'Although the emergency medical team made every effort to save him, the victim succumbed to severe injuries sustained in the incident,' Sungai Golok police chief Thun Sirikhunt said.  

The teams were playing for the Golok FA Cup, a local tournament that includes amateur and Thai-Malaysian teams. 

The fixture on Tuesday was between SAMCOLTS and Abu x Nong Sirin. 

Mr Awae, who played on the wing for SAMCOLTS, was recently signed for the Thai third-tier side Yala FC.

Yala FC wrote a tribute to the player, saying: 'We extend our condolences to the family of our new FC Yala player, Sofwan Awae.'

Some 283 people were struck by lightning across Thailand between 2020 and 2024, according to the Department of Disease Control. 

This week's strike comes after an engineering student and his aunt were killed in May by a bolt of lightning while sheltering in a hut in the Lampang province, northern Thailand. 

While a 30-year-old pregnant woman was killed in a separate lightning strike in May in the Uthai Thani province, northern Thailand.