A plane that was struck by lightning while waiting at an airport in the Western African nation of Togo was exorcised by voodoo priests .

According to Sputnik News France , a lightning storm last week at Lome-Tokoin International Airport in Togo damaged a Boeing plane operated by Ethiopian Airlines that typically operates flights between the capital and New York City.

As a result, local voodoo priests of the Hebiesso divinity offered their services to the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC), saying they would conduct a purification ceremony to exorcise any potential evil surrounding the plane following the lightning strike.

ANAC director general Colonel Latta Gnama, airport authorities and airline officials attended the voodoo ceremony, with a short video clip of the attempt to cleanse the aircraft being shared online.

Gnama said the agency works closely with the voodoo priests to “make their job easier” and that “when lightning strikes somewhere, it is our duty, for the safety of people, to identify and purify the place where it struck.”

In addition to the voodoo ceremony, Gnama said officials added “lightning rods everywhere” at Lome-Tokoin International to prevent damage to buildings and planes. While the lightning rods took most of the discharge, a small charge hit the Ethiopian Airlines aircraft.

In 2019, a Chinese airline sued a passenger who allegedly threw coins into a plane engine for good luck.