Soccer Player Killed and 12 Others Injured After Lightning Strikes Field During Match (Video)

A 24-year-old soccer player was killed and 12 others were injured after a lightning bolt struck a field during a match in southern Thailand.

Sofwan Awae suffered critical injuries when lightning hit the pitch at Santiphap Stadium in Sungai Golok on Tuesday as heavy rain pounded the area.

Despite desperate efforts by medical teams to save him, Awae later died from his injuries, police said.

Dramatic video from the match showed a lightning bolt flashing near players on the field, followed by a deafening bang.

Awae’s teammates, wearing black-and-white uniforms, immediately rushed to his side. They turned him onto his back and began performing CPR as shocked spectators gathered around.

Police said 12 other players were also injured in the strike and taken to Sungai Kolok Hospital for treatment.

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One of the injured players was identified as 22-year-old Malaysian national Mohamad Alif Ezzahan Zulkifli, who later returned to Malaysia to continue receiving medical care.

“Although the emergency medical team made every effort to save him, the victim succumbed to severe injuries sustained in the incident,” Sungai Golok Police Chief Thun Sirikhunt said.

The teams were competing in the Golok FA Cup, a local tournament featuring amateur clubs from Thailand and Malaysia.

Tuesday’s match was between SAMCOLTS and Abu x Nong Sirin.

Awae played as a winger for SAMCOLTS and had recently signed with Yala FC, a team in Thailand’s third-tier soccer league.

Yala FC paid tribute to its new player following the tragedy.

“We extend our condolences to the family of our new FC Yala player, Sofwan Awae,” the club said.

The deadly strike comes amid growing concern about lightning-related deaths in Thailand.

According to the country’s Department of Disease Control, 283 people were struck by lightning across Thailand between 2020 and 2024.

In May, an engineering student and his aunt were killed by lightning while sheltering inside a hut in Lampang province in northern Thailand.

That same month, a 30-year-old pregnant woman was killed in a separate lightning strike in Uthai Thani province.