Two farmers – a father and his son – were struck by lightning and rendered unconscious on Friday in Ratanakkiri province’s Kon Mom district, according to police.

Yun Bunna, Banlung district police chief of staff, said Hang Saret, 52, and his son, Hang Puth, 14, were struck by lightning while resting under a plastic tent on their farm in Ta Ong commune.

“Fortunately, they were sent to the hospital in time. Both of them are conscious now,” Bunna said.

Saret, who had just left the Banlung town hospital, said yesterday that, in fact, the lightning did not strike them directly, but rather struck a nearby tree.

“When the lightning struck the tree, my son and I were sitting in the tent. We started to tremble and felt powerless, as if shocked by electricity, and then we fell unconscious. We are getting better and better now,” he said.

A report released at the end of June by the National Committee for Disaster Management indicated a 50 per cent uptick in storm frequency but fewer lightning-related deaths in the first half of 2015 as compared to 2014.