Tragic Lightning Strike in Cuba Claims Lives: Victims Identified

The tragic incident of a severe lightning strike that occurred in the Moa municipality, Holguín province, has resulted in the loss of three lives. On Saturday, journalist Yulieska Hernández García reported the identities of the deceased: Eniolquis Romero Terrero, aged 33 from Guamá, Baracoa; Leonel Velázquez Legrá, aged 34 from Armando Mestre, Moa; and Lázaro Rodríguez Peña, aged 36 from Holguín city.

In addition to the fatalities, four individuals sustained injuries when the lightning struck the rural area of Cupey, located along the Moa - Baracoa highway, east of the mining city. Local authorities, including Yiganis Cruz Martínez, the Party Secretary in Moa, along with other Municipal Bureau members, vice mayors, and officials from the Ministry of the Interior (MININT), visited both the hospital and the incident site to coordinate response measures and provide support to the families affected.

Injured Victims: Medical Update

Besides the tragic deaths, the lightning strike left four people injured and receiving medical attention in Moa:

• Yuxander Robles Robles from El Jobo, Sagua de Tánamo: Experienced body tremors and numbness in the feet. Currently stabilized.
• Irelemis Ortiz del Rosario from Yamanigüey, Moa: Suffered numbness in both upper and lower limbs. Now stable.
• Lisbeth Pajan Silot from La Playa, Moa: Lost consciousness and had abrasions near the eyes. Remains under medical care.
• Dantry Revé Quiala from Sagua de Tánamo: Sustained abrasions on the left knee and right ankle. Stabilized.

2025: A Year Marked by Lightning Fatalities in Cuba

The calamity in Cupey is part of a series of deadly lightning incidents in Cuba this year:

In June, two teenagers, aged 13 and 16, lost their lives while playing soccer during a thunderstorm in Bauta, Artemisa. That same day, a three-year-old girl drowned in Playa Baracoa. In August, a lightning strike in Manicaragua, Villa Clara, claimed the lives of three teenagers and injured a minor during an afternoon storm. Later that month, a 42-year-old woman was killed by lightning while working in agriculture near La Luisa, Colón, Matanzas. A man tragically died in September in Holguín city after an electric shock on his terrace when a beam he was handling contacted high-voltage wires.

July witnessed a near-miss incident in Ciego de Ávila, where a group of young people narrowly escaped a lightning strike while playing soccer in the rain. Meteorologist Frank Fernández Castañeda criticized this incident as reckless behavior that could have been fatal.

Previous Lightning Tragedy in Moa

Earlier in May 2023, Moa experienced another tragic incident when a lightning strike near the Empresa de Servicios a la Unión del Níquel (ESUNI) injured seven people. Ultimately, Dunielquis Fonseca Borges, an economic management specialist at ESUNI, succumbed to her injuries.

Alarming Statistics: Lightning Deaths in Cuba

Lightning storms have claimed at least 1,892 lives in Cuba from 1987 to 2023, averaging 51 deaths annually, according to a recent study by the Institute of Geodesy and Astronomy (IGA). While the trend shows a decline (69 deaths per year in the 1990s, 56 in the 2000s, and 37 in the 2010s), the risk remains significant.

Master of Science Neobil Vega Batista, head of the Instrumental and Technological Development Department at the IGA, emphasized that "the damages go beyond human loss, encompassing complex and hard-to-quantify economic impacts."

Since 2024, organizations such as the IGA, the Institute of Meteorology, the University of Havana, the Fire Department, and the Fire Protection Agency (APCI) have been involved in an Early Warning System and vulnerability study aimed at mitigating the devastating effects of these natural phenomena.