An officer and two soldiers of the Colombian armed forces on Thursday died instantly after being struck by lightning.
A further six soldiers were injured by the lightning bolt and were taken by helicopter to a hospital in the south Colombian city of Popayan.
The soldiers were struck while they sheltered from the rain under a tree in a rural area of the department of Cauca, in the country’s south-west.
This is the second tragedy caused by lightning this week. On Monday one soldier died and a further seven sustained injuries when their headquarters was struck by lightning.
