When i was a kid my dad told me a story about one of his school Gaelic football matches he was coaching at. During the match a thundering rainstorm developed, but as you can imagine the match continued as normal.Eventually the storm got so close that the thunder and lightning were virtually coinciding. So some of the players got into a crouched position. One of the few remaining upright players was then tragically struck by lightning. After many failed attempts to revive him he passed away.This story was pretty freaky when I was a kid and as i got older I found it was not a completely unheard of phenomenon. This being said I think you'll agree with me that 11 players of the same team being simultaneously struck by lightning and killed is a little more than freaky. This is The Tragic Case of Bena Tshadi.In October 1998 two teams of the eastern province of Kasai in the Democratic Republic of Congo were playing a soccer match, and just before half time the teams were drawing 1-1. It was at this point that a bolt of lightning struck completely out of the blue, killing all eleven players of the Bena Tshadi team.Although 30 other people were treated for injuries at the scene. Unusually the opposing Basanga team escaped completely unscathed. Although it was not possible to gain official confirmation due to a civil war affecting the East of the country. It did not take long before superstitious accusations were made.It is common practise for teams in this region to apply the use of witch doctors to enhance their chances of success. In such a superstitious society this incident will surely only have served to increase this practise amongst sports teams. In 2008 a deadly riot ensued after accusations of black magic and witchcraft were made during a match between Nyuki football club and its local rivals Socozaki. Allegedly the Nyuki goalkeeper ran up the pitch incanting a "fe ti shist" spell to weaken the opposing team. The riots which ensued left many injured and thirteen dead.To put the insanity of this story in perspective here are some facts about lightning strikes;Now if you were to take the probability of each of the eleven fatalities from lightning strikes in the Bena Tshadi case as separate events. The chances of this happening are virtually non existent, and my cheap calculator won't do those kind of sums. However as they can be considered as one single bolt and therefore event, the probabilities mentioned above are still representative of this incident. It is just unfortunate that the whole team happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.I am not a big believer in witchcraft or the superstitious in general, but after reading about this tragic case, I will definitely be seeking shelter the next time I'm caught out in a thunderstorm.Sources;[edit on 6-9-2010 by Big Raging Loner]