Footballer is killed and six others injured when lightning bolt strikes pitch during cup match

A footballer has been killed and six others injured after a bolt of lightning struck a field during a cup match in Brazil.

Caio Henrique de Lima Goncalves, 21, was playing for his Uniao Jaiirense team in a cup match in the southern state of Parana when he was shocked by a lightning strike on Sunday.

He was rushed to hospital on Sunday after collapsing on the pitch, but later died of his injuries, police in Santo Antonio da Platina said.

Chilling footage taken moments after the lightning strike shows the pitch littered with stricken players and officials desperately rushing to get them to safety and medical treatment.

The stormy weather continued as the referees carried the collapsed players off the pitch, with the threat of a second lightning strike seeming possible at any moment.

Caio Henrique de Lima Goncalves, 21, (pictured) was playing for his Uniao Jaiirense team in a cup match in the southern state of Parana when he was shocked by a lightning strike on Sunday

Goncalves was playing for his Uniao Jaiirense team against Unidos, from Santo Antonio da Platina, in an amateur cup match at the Jose Eleuterio da Silva Stadium on Sunday when the lightning stuck.

Five of the six players struck by lightning remain in a local hospital for observation, while a sixth, more seriously injured player was rushed to a regional hospital.

In a statement, Santo Antonio da Platina's town hall mourned Goncalves' death and said it was “doing everything possible to ensure that those affected receive the best possible care.”

Although rare, there have been other cases in recent months of people dying from lightning strikes.

Goncalves was rushed to hospital on Sunday after collapsing on the pitch but later died from his injuries, police in Santo Antonio da Platina said.

Caio Henrique de Lima Goncalves, 21, (pictured) was playing for his Uniao Jaiirense team in a cup match in the southern state of Parana when he was shocked by the lightning strike

In November, a Venezuelan woman was struck by lightning and killed in the Colombian Caribbean coastal province of Cartagena.

Froilanis Rivas, 34, was standing on the shore of a beach in the town of La Boquilla when she was hit, footage from a bystander showed.

Paramedics rushed Rivas, a mother of two, to Serena del Mar Hospital and attempted CPR for 45 minutes after she went into cardiac arrest. She was later pronounced dead.

And in the same month, a tour guide in Brazil was killed by a freak lightning strike after warning his group that it was going to rain.

Leilson de Souza, 36, was leading hikers through a trail in Rio de Janeiro's Tijuca National Park when he was shocked last month.

Meanwhile, in May, British tourist Scott Seddon, 26, was killed by a lightning strike while paddle boarding in Rhodes, Greece.

Mr Seddon, who lived with his sister Layla and father Steve in a large bungalow in Liverpool, was described by close friends as a 'nice guy' and 'very popular'.