Peter Garlay who was an active Catholic youth in the parish of Kanazogone of the Diocese of Pathein in the township of Wakema located in the Ayeyarwaddy Region of Myanmar was struck by lightning on May 25 at over 5 in the afternoon.

The neighboring cousin’s sister of Garlay Nant Mary Sie Shint said, “When Mahn Htun Kyaing who was Garlay’s father, Mahn Kyaw Kyaw, Phoe Thout Kyar, and Garlay were working in the field with hoes, it was raining cat and dog. For this reason, Kyaing and Kyaw took a rest in the tent near to them and waited for the rain to stop. At that time, they call out Garlay and Kyar to refuge in the tent as they did. It was over 5 pm already.”

Garlay who went on his work replied to his father, “I will not yet come. I want to finish this work.”

“Kyar and Garlay worked only a few yards from each other. Kyaw’s face was struck on the surface only whereas Garlay was hit right on his shoulders and immediately fell down on the ground. And he died on the spot. But no one knew that he did not breathe at that time,” Mary told RVA News.

His Father Kyaing came out of his tent and cried out for help from his neighbors. When people around his area quickly run to him and touched the dead body, they noticed that the body was still warm. Then, they brought it home and contacted the group of social workers in the Wakema town according to Nant Sie Shint.

The social workers came by ambulance and brought the lifeless body to the public hospital in the town for medical proof.

“The dead body was laid at the hospital overnight and operated on. The next morning it was brought back home,” informed Mary.

She continues to say, “Garlay put his motorbike key on his neck and dug soil with a hoe in his hands when the lightning struck him.”

Peter Garlay died at the age of 25. He was a good youth with obedience. As he was still young, he was not a drinker. His hobby was playing soccer.

“I am very condolent to lose Peter,” said his cousin’s sister Nant Sie Shint.

“His father Kyaing is in deep grief and sorrow,” she regretted.  According to Mary, Garlay’s mother died of cancer, and it has been over one year already.

In the local news, the dead person was misunderstood that he was an official of the current regime in his village. In this regard, Mary Sie Shint reminded social media users not to spread fake news about Garlay’s death because the content was wrongly uploaded by local media as a political concern.

“May I request you all not to share any fake news about this event which was nothing concerned with a political issue.”

The funeral service was done on May 26 in the morning.

Peter Garlay lived in the village of Kanazogone, which is currently the parish center, consisting of 600 households with a Catholic majority. Local news