Jogger struck by lightning in Titiwangsa park

KUALA LUMPUR: A lifeguard who was jogging in Taman Tasik Titiwangsa, died after he was struck by lightning. 

Wangsa Maju acting OCPD Deputy Supt Asmadi Abdul Aziz said the 52-year-old man, who lived in Jalan Semarak, would jog along the same track in the park daily and did so even during the brief thunderstorm on Thursday evening. 

"At about 6.30pm, lightning struck a coconut tree. He was also hit by the lightning and died on the spot," Asmadi said. 

The man's body was sent to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital for a post-mortem. 

Malaysia has the second highest number of lightning strikes in the world, according to the United States National Lightning Safety Institute (NSLI), in a 2010 report published in The Star. 

Its chairman Richard Kithil Jr said that Malaysian records nearly double the number of thunderstorms than in the US state of Florida, which averages about 90 thunderstorms a day. 

"Lightning is considered the worst natural killer, causing at least 25,000 deaths worldwide each year," he said.