Two children in Kenyan district of Buikwe were both struck to death by a lightning as they were working in their family garden on Monday morning.

The victims were identified as Masene Kiwuka,15 and Lydia Baryana, 14.

Mr Fred Clement Karangwa, the father of the girls told Daily Monitor that he last saw his daughters in the company of their mother Ms Oliva Nabwire as they left for the garden in the morning.

“I [later] saw my wife running home crying that our children had been killed by lightning. It is a very big shock to our family. The children had gone to the garden with their mother,” Mr Karangwa said.

Ms Nabwire, said she saw the girls lying on the ground seconds after a loud bang.

“Some residents who came to my rescue pronounced the two girls dead,” Ms Nabwire said.

Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions in the atmosphere or ground temporarily equalise themselves, causing the instantaneous release of as much as one gigajoule of energy.