DR1 Daily News - Dominican Republic

Three children did what they always did… go out to play in the rain. Only on the fatal Friday afternoon of 1 August 2025, the downpour came with a deadly strike of lightning. The children were playing in a baseball field in the Palavé area of Manoguayabo, Santo Domingo West.

The tragic incident has left the entire community in shock.

Gregory Alejandro Ascencio, a witness, recounted what happened for Diario Libre. He explained that a sudden lightning strike turned a moment of joy into tragedy on that Friday afternoon in the Palavé sector of Manoguayabo, a township in the northwest of Santo Domingo province. Three children were struck while playing in the rain. Two of them died instantly, while a third remains hospitalized.

“I was standing at my window when I saw the lightning bolt hit,” he told Diario Libre, visibly shaken. “One of the boys died on the spot. Another was thrown back by...