16 people were killed while another 140 others injured when lightning struck a Seventh Day Adventist church in Rwanda, said a local official on Sunday.

Fourteen victims were killed on the spot as lightning hit the church in the Nyaruguru district in the Southern Province on Saturday, local mayor Habitegeko Francois told AFP over the phone.

He added that 140 people involved in the incident had been rushed to hospital and district health centres, but that many had already been discharged.

“Doctors say that only three of them are in critical condition but they are getting better,” he said.

A  similar incident occurred on Friday when lightning struck a group of 18 students, killing one. Last October, lightning killed 18 people in different parts of the country.

Lightning strikes are frequent across Rwanda, which has many hills and mountains, and the country’s police record a number of human and livestock deaths each year.

Lightning killed 30 people, injured 61 and killed 48 livestock in 2016, the most recent year with full figures, according to Rwanda’s Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs.