Veep, hundreds mourn lightning victims

Hundreds of Malawians on Monday converged on a school ground in Area 36 in Lilongwe for a memorial service of the victims of the lightning tragedy which occurred inside Chisiyo Seventh Day Adventist Church on Saturday.

The caskets of seven of the eight victims arriving at the venue were met with heartbreaking cries of disbelief and sorrow from men, women and children who live around the church and fellow SDA faithful from Lilongwe City.

A representative of the bereaved families, William Banda, summed up the grief of the seven families and those gathered when he said God had loved the deceased more than their relatives loved them.

“We are thankful that God gave us the little time on earth to know these people and love them. But God has loved them most,” he said.

Except for Beauty Ligowe, whose funeral service was held in Area 47, government paid for funeral expenses of the seven deceased, including food and transport to their respective homes.

The seven have been identified as five-year old Princess Nachichi, Alan Jossam Banda (18), Amos Tengeletu (16), Gertrude

Phillipo ( 17), Michael Likayama and Judith Kamwachali (both 18), Ligowe (33) and Maria Juwawo (54).

Among the dignitaries who attended the memorial service were Vice-President Khumbo Kachali, former vice-president Justin Malewezi, Malawi Congress Party May 2014 torchbearer the Reverend Lazarus Chakwera and senior members of the SDA Church in Malawi led by Pastor Lackson Kuyama.

In his remarks, Kachali said the tragedy has shocked the whole nation, including President Joyce Banda who was expected to return home from Nigeria on Tuesday.

“This tragedy will never be forgotten in the history of Malawi. We have car accidents and accidents of all types, but for such an accident to occur inside a church is shocking to everyone,” he said.

Kuyama could not recall a time in the church’s history when it held such a mass funeral service.

But he was grateful that the incident had renewed the people’s faith in God even after such a tragedy occurred inside a church.

The incident has puzzled people because the church building shows no visible signs of being struck by lightning.

A small space in the wall of the building indicated a charred area where the church members said the lightning bolt had entered before hitting the opposite wall. The bolt bounced off the floor before hitting another wall.

In the lightning’s trail, it left eight people dead and over 40 others with various degrees of injuries, including temporary blindness.

The bodies have since been taken to their homes for burial in Lilongwe, Dedza and Thyolo.