Lightning Fatalities in Africa from 2010-2017

Lightning is a major hazard to people in Africa but there is only a small amount of direct information about its impacts. Since about 2010, there has been an improvement in news reporting by use of the internet. The result is wider dissemination of lightning incidents that had been occurring but were not reaching newsgathering media. In the absence of organized lightning casualty data collection in most of Africa, this study will address the use of available internet-based reports. A sample review of lightning fatalities for Zimbabwe is summarized from English-language searches in order to obtain an overview of scenarios involved in lightning casualties. Future data collection will be stratified, when possible, by nation in Africa, month, activity, location, and age, number and gender of individuals.