Terrifying footage shows young mum being killed by lightning on day out at busy beach
Doctors attempted to resuscitate the 34-year-old mother for 45 minutes before she was pronounced dead at the scene following the freak accident.
Colombia: Mother fatally struck by lightning on Cartagena beach
Horror footage captures the moment A 34-year-old woman was struck and killed by lightning on a beach in Cartagena, Colombia, last week.
The victim was identified as Froilanis Rivas Roman, a mother and beautician from Venezuela.
Roman had arrived in Colombia two months ago in search of a better life for herself and her 10-year-old daughter.
Video footage from security cameras shows Roman standing along the shore at La Boquilla beach when she was struck by lightning and fell to the ground.
Two other people fainted on the same beach due to the lightning’s impact.
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Lifeguard Gustavo Pena, who tried to help Roman, said: “It’s a terrible thing. I was in the lifeguard tower and I had my arm where there was a nail, and it kicked my whole arm.”
After seeing Roman down on the sand, Pena ran to her and called his superior for help.
An ambulance came quickly, and Roman was immediately taken to the Serena Del Mar clinic, where she was admitted in cardiorespiratory arrest.
Alvaro Cruz, director of the emergency center, said: “The doctors resuscitated her for 45 minutes. After that, she was declared dead.”
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Tourists at the same beach where Roman was killed were shocked after seeing videos of what happened.
Ana Guerra, a tourist from Bogota, said: “The most advisable thing to do is to stay away from the beaches if it thundering or raining.”
Lightning detection expert Daniel Aranguren said “it is easier to be struck by lightning than to win the lottery”.
Aranguren added that in the last decade, 300 people have died from lightning strikes in the Caribbean region of Colombia.
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He also said that there were 250 lightning strikes detected in Cartagena on the day Roman died, which began to occur an hour before the incident.
This comes as three people were struck and injured by lightning in Santa Marta last week, with one person in critical condition.
The incident occurred when the victims were near their homes in the midst of heavy rain.
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