Tragic Lightning Strike Kills Yala FC Winger Safwan Awae

The rain had been falling hard over Santiphap Stadium, the kind of monsoon sheet that usually sends footballers jogging nervously toward the touchline. On Tuesday, in Thailand’s Narathiwat province, nobody made it that far.

A bolt of lightning tore into the pitch during a Golok Cup regional fixture in the Su-ngai Kolok district, killing 24-year-old winger Safwan Awae of Yala FC and injuring 12 other players. In a matter of seconds, a routine cup tie became a scene of panic and disbelief.

A bolt from the sky

Play had continued despite the worsening storm, the surface slick, the air heavy. Then came the flash.

Witnesses saw players collapse as the lightning hit. The match stopped instantly. From the stands and from across the field, people sprinted toward the motionless figure of Awae, lying on the turf where the strike had landed.

Footage from the stadium shows teammates and spectators huddling around him, some trying CPR, others using their bodies and jackets as makeshift shields against the driving rain. The noise of the storm drowned out much of the confusion, but the urgency was unmistakable.

Emergency services arrived and rushed Awae to hospital in critical condition. The fight to save him did not succeed. Police chief Thun Sirikhunt later confirmed that the Yala FC winger had died from his injuries.

Dozens hit, one dream ended

The lightning did not spare the others. Twelve players suffered burns of varying severity in the same incident, among them 22-year-old Malaysian footballer Alif Ezzahan Zulkifli. Several of the injured were taken to Sungai Kolok Hospital for treatment.

The human cost is stark enough. The timing makes it even crueller.

Awae had only just signed for Yala FC, a Thai League 3 side, the week before the match. Local reports describe the move as a lifelong ambition fulfilled, the kind of step a young player spends years chasing on dusty training pitches and in lower-league obscurity.

He barely had time to pull on the shirt in competition. He never got the chance to build on that milestone.

Grief in Yala and beyond

Shock rippled quickly through the club and the regional game. Yala FC issued a statement on their official channels, offering deep condolences to Awae’s family and mourning a player whose time with them had only just begun.

The Football Association of Thailand also released a formal message, saying it “shares the grief with the family, friends and the club during this difficult time.” In a country where football is woven into daily life from schoolyards to regional cups like the Golok tournament, the images from Santiphap Stadium hit hard.

A local competition, a modest ground, a new signing eager to prove himself. It was supposed to be another step on a young man’s journey, not the final chapter.

A sport confronted by sudden loss

The tragedy in Narathiwat comes against a wider backdrop of football grappling with unexpected, violent loss far from the bright lights of elite stadiums.

In a separate case reported by TUKO.co.ke, Brazilian teenager Micael Leandro da Silva was shot dead shortly after completing an amateur tournament in Maceio. His father later described how “my family has been torn apart by two criminals who came and shot my son in the back.”

Different continents. Different causes. The same brutal interruption of a game that, at its heart, is meant to offer hope, escape, and a future.

At Santiphap Stadium, the rain eventually eased, the floodlights dimmed, and the crowd went home. The questions linger. A young winger had just signed for the club he dreamed of representing. Now Yala FC, and a region that lives for football, must find a way to move on without ever knowing what his career might have become.