23-year-old Ceará champion Luzimara Souza was training off the coast of Fortaleza when the lightning bolt struck.
23-year-old Ceará champion Luzimara Souza was training off the coast of Fortaleza when the lightning bolt struck.
The world of surfing is in mourning after the news was confirmed that Brazilian surfer Luzimara Souza was killed by lightning whilst training near the beach in Leste-oeste in Fortaleza (Ceará, Brazil) where she practised with fellow surfers.

A local businessman told local surfing outlet Waves how the lightning struck the sea exactly where Luzimara was training and despite being quickly evacuated to local the Hospital Instituto Dr. José Frota she failed to survive the impact.

Luzimara Souza was the regional Cearense champion and was training for imminent local championships. Her death has started a nationwide campaign to draw attention to the danger of surfing with electrical storms with a reported 77.8 million lightning bolts reported to have struck Brazil between 2011 and 2017.