Sedona AZ (July 24, 2013) – On Tuesday, July 23, 2013, at about 3:00 p.m., a bolt of lightning struck in the area of the LeFevre Scenic Overlook at MP 590.4 on Arizona State Highway 89A about eight miles north of Jacobs Lake. A group of people were standing in the area of the overlook when a man and wife from out of the country were struck and later pronounced deceased at the scene.
A third victim, a male minor, was also struck by the lightning and knocked to the ground. He was treated at the scene for non-life-threatening injuries and transported to an area hospital by Kane County Utah Medical Transport.
The minor child was not associated with the two deceased victims and was traveling with several adult guardians.
After the lighting strike, several other people at the overlook called the Kane County 911 Dispatch Center on their cell phones and reported the incident. Dispatchers sent the Kane County Ambulance and notified the Arizona Department of Public Safety and the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office.
The two deceased victims were transported to the Coconino County Medical Examiner’s Office located in Flagstaff, Arizona. Names of the two deceased victims are being withheld pending next of kin notification.
An investigation is being continued by Sheriff’s Detectives and the Coconino County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Lightning Safety Tips Plan in advance your evacuation and safety measures. When you first see lightning or hear thunder, activate your emergency plan. Now is the time to go to a building or a vehicle. Lightning often precedes rain, so don’t wait for the rain to begin before suspending activities.
IF OUTDOORS avoid water. Avoid the high ground. Avoid open spaces. Avoid all metal objects including electric wires, fences, machinery, motors, power tools, etc.
Unsafe places include underneath canopies, small picnic or rain shelters, or near trees. Where possible, find shelter in a substantial building or in a fully enclosed metal vehicle such as a car, truck or a van with the windows completely shut.
If lightning is striking nearby when you are outside, you should:
- Crouch down. Put feet together. Place hands over ears to minimize hearing damage from thunder.
- Avoid proximity (minimum of 15 ft.) to other people.
IF INDOORS avoid water. Stay away from doors and windows. Do not use telephones. Take off headsets. Turn off, unplug, and stay away from appliances, computers, power tools and television sets. Lightning may strike exterior electric and phone lines, inducing shocks to inside equipment.
SUSPEND ACTIVITIES for 30 minutes after the last observed lightning or thunder.
INJURED PERSONS do not carry an electrical charge and can be handled safely. Apply First Aid procedures to a lightning victim if you are qualified to do so. Call 911 or send for help immediately.
KNOW YOUR EMERGENCY TELEPHONE NUMBERS.
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Coconino County Sheriff’s Detectives have received confirmation from the Thailand Embassy that the next of kin of the two deceased victims of the lightning strike have been contacted and notified of their deaths. The victims have been identified as twenty year-old Aram Kawewong of Chiang-Mai Thailand and his wife twenty year-old Ratchaya Tantranon also of Chiang-Mai Thailand.
Both victims were struck by lightning on Tuesday, July 23, 2013, at about 3:00 p.m. while they were standing at the Le Fevre Scenic Overlook at MP 590.4 on Highway 89A about eight miles north of Jacobs Lake. The identity of the male minor child who received nonlife threatening injuries is not being released but was not with the couple from Thailand.
May God send blessings to your families and give them peace in these tragic hours. In God’s name let us pray for them. In Jesus the Savior we pray, amen.