[EU News] Over 40 hurt after being hit by lightning in France and Germany

[lioneatszebra]

Over 40 hurt after being hit by lightning in France and Germany
from USA Today

More than 40 people were injured on Saturday when lightning struck a birthday party in Paris and a soccer game in Germany.

A Paris fire service spokesman says 11 people including eight children have been hit by lightning in a Paris park after a sudden spring storm overtook a child's birthday party.

The victims had sought shelter Saturday under a tree at Park Monceau, a popular weekend hangout for well-to-do families in Paris.

Spokesman Eric Moulin says six of those struck by lightning were seriously injured, including four children and two adults — and four of them were in life-threatening condition. He said a further five people were slightly injured, including four children and another adult.

A Paris fire service spokesman says an off-duty fireman ran immediately to the scene after a lightning strike disrupted a child's birthday party in a park.

Eric Moulin says the fireman saw nine of the 11 victims prone on the ground under a tree.

Moulin says "without his actions, it would have been much worse."

Moulin says six of those struck by lightning are seriously injured, including four children and two adults — and four of them are in life-threatening condition. He says a further five people are slightly injured, including four children and another adult.

He gave the children's ages as around 9-years-old.

In a similar incident, 35 people were taken to the hospital on Saturday afternoon after lightning struck a children's soccer match in western Germany.

Three adults were seriously injured in the incident Saturday afternoon in Hoppstaetten, including the referee. Another 32 people, among them 30 children aged from nine to 11, were taken to the hospital as a precaution, the dpa news agency reported.

The game had just finished when lightning struck suddenly at about 2 p.m., police spokesman Dominik Lentz told n-tv television.

He says "according to what everyone present says, there were no clouds in the sky ... so that this incident couldn't have been expected."

[MrC0W]

This is crazy... My thoughts are with the victims of the horrible accident.

[stormshooter]

I hope those in hospital are able to recover. D:

[Green_Giant]

That's rough, and what are the chances? Hope they all recover.