A sacrifice

Eighteen-year-old Jiang Tao, who at 1.88 meters (6 feet 2 inches) towered over fellow players in the SinChi TV team, was killed Wednesday while his team trained during a slight drizzle at Singapore's Jurong Stadium.

Wang Jinhui, the club's vice chairman, told a press conference that Jiang, from China's northern Jilin province, probably took the lightning hit because he was the tallest member of the team.

"Jiang Tao was like a soldier who died in battle. We regard him as a martyr," he said, adding that if the bolt had hit the ground, more players could have been killed or injured.

SinChi TV coach K. Jamaludeen broke down midway through a news conference as he recalled the incident, believed to be the first on the football field in Singapore, where thunderstorms are common.

"I am actually very traumatised. It has never happened to me before like this. It was my first training session with them," said Jamaludeen, who was an arm's length away from defender Jiang.

"The lightning came down very hard and very strong. It hit the deceased and he fell flat down. Myself and a few of the players felt the impact on the ground," he said.

Chan King Fook, chief executive of Singapore's professional S.League, said donation boxes will be put up during five matches scheduled next week so that friends and sympathizers can donate money to the family of Jiang Tao.

His family will receive 125,000 Singapore dollars (73,529 USD) from a local firm which insures all S.League players.

The player's mother, who was in Jilin, fainted after being informed by telephone of the fate of her only son.