Lightning Kills 11 in Colombian Ritual

Lightning killed 11 members of an indigenous Colombian tribe during the performance of a religious ritual Sunday night in a remote part of the country. During what is described as a spiritual harmonization ceremony, about 60 people gathered in a thatched building in Colombia’s Sierra Nevada mountains that the Wiwa group used as a temple. It was struck by a lightning bolt and burned to the ground, injuring 15 in addition to the 11 killed. Most of the victims suffered second- and third-degree burns and had to be airlifted to a hospital in the Caribbean city of Santa Marta.