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In the middle of football training, a 31-year-old man died on Thursday May 23, struck by lightning, in Courrières (Pas-de-Calais). In the aftermath of the tragedy, the emotion is immense in the city and within the club.
Jordan Denneulin, aged 31, died on a football field in Courrières (Pas-de-Calais), on the evening of Thursday May 23, struck by lightning. His father and one of his brothers returned to the scene of the tragedy on Friday morning. “I don’t even realize he’s gone. For me, it’s just a nightmare”, confides the victim’s brother. This death could have been avoided, according to his father. “Why did they do the training when there was a storm 5 km away?”he asks himself.
Thursday evening, around 8 p.m., the weather deteriorated. The players tried to return to the locker room, but Jordan Denneulin did not have time to take cover. Despite rapid intervention by firefighters, the victim could not be resuscitated. The traumatized players were treated in the evening by medical teams. One of them was rushed to hospital for chest pain, and seven others suffered minor injuries.