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Lightning kills two prisoners in S. Tanzania

Xinhua, March 21, 2016 Adjust font size:

Two inmates at Majimaji Prison in Tanzania's southern region of Ruvuma died after being struck by lightning, police said on Sunday.

"We can confirm that two inmates have died, three more have been transferred to Tunduru District Hospital because of burns due to the lightning," said Zuberi Mombeji, Ruvuma Regional Police Commander.

He said the lightning struck the prison at around 6:00 p.m. Saturday when the inmates were inside the prison, located 790 km from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's commercial capital.

The regional police chief said the inmates who died were both serving one-year sentence.

Reports from the area said this is the third incident to happen at the prison in the past two years.

Locals appealed to the government on setting up lightning arresters in the area to save people's lives and properties because of frequent lightning. Endit