A near-miss dash-cam video which was doing the rounds on social media earlier today depicted an impressive lightning strike, and not a rogue petard from the Lija fireworks, a Maltese weather page and the Lija fireworks factory have said.

Having spoken to the family who happened to be in the car “a few inches” away from the fiery ball, Lovin Malta had initially reported the family’s near miss as one with a rogue petard from Lija’s feast of Saint Michael.

While it did happen on Sunday 5th August during the weekend of the Lija feast, and with this happening the same month a stray petard during a festa caused extensive damage to Malta’s largest sinkhole Il-Maqluba, a Maltese weather page and the Lija fireworks factory have weighed in on the situation.

“A C-G (Cloud to Ground) lightning bolt hit very close to Vjal il-Labour in Naxxar, last Sunday 5th August at around 6:40pm,” It-Temp Madwarna explained on Facebook. “This happened during an intensive lightning storm over Lija, Attard, Naxxar and Mosta.”

“The family who happened to be in a car very close by thought that this was actually a festa petard, but this is definitely not the case,” the weather page continued. “Let us not forget that trees and cars are two very powerful conductors of electricity!”

Following the statement, Lija’s St. Michael Fireworks Factory also shared the Facebook post, saying it was unfair that unfounded accusations were fired their way.

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David Grech Urpani

Lovin Malta's Head of Content, Dave has been in journalism for the better half of the last decade. Prefers Instagram, but has been known to doomscroll on TikTok. Loves chicken, women's clothes and Kanye West (most of the time).