Lightning struck three men dead as they stood under a tree in Kampong Cham province on Friday evening, police said.

Sok Suon, 53, Vy Ponlork, 37, and Yam Khen, 27, died at the scene, said Long Thy, police chief in Srei Santhor district’s Prek Por commune.

“Although experts declared the men dead, villagers – based on superstition – buried them in sand, believing they would wake,” Thy told the Post yesterday.

Som Sat, Sok Suon’s wife, said that according to villagers’ beliefs, the bodies should be cremated to prevent their spirits from haunting the living.

“Villagers believe the tree might be where the evils or ghosts live, so it was struck,” she added.

Keo Vy, cabinet director of the National Committee for Disaster Management, said that 55 people have been killed and 39 injured by lightning this year.

Recent strong winds, he added, have destroyed 30 houses.