lightning strike - Blitz hits family - eight injured, two critical
At a lightning strike in a park in Delmenhorst, Lower Saxony, eight members of a family were injured, who had been sitting under a tree. A five-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl were revived and taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, according to the police. The 38-year-old mother, her 40-year-old husband, a two-year-old girl, a nine-year-old girl, a twelve-year-old son, and a 31-year-old relative were taken to hospitals.
The family was reportedly at a public grilling area in the park "An den Graften" and sought shelter from an approaching storm, as stated in a police press release. When the adults and children found refuge under a tree, a lightning strike occurred nearby.
Two helicopters, six ambulances, five ambulances, and a large number of fire department personnel were dispatched to the scene, as reported. The police initially reported that it involved a family of six.
On Pentecost Monday of this year, ten people were seriously injured at the Elbe riverbank in Dresden when a lightning strike occurred there. Four of the injured were in critical condition. One of them, a 29-year-old man, later succumbed to his injuries.
The weather on that day in Lower Saxony was unfavorable, with a storm approaching. The family's decision to seek shelter under a tree in the park "An den Graften" was influenced by the weather conditions. Despite the efforts of the medical personnel, the 29-year-old relative also suffered a serious injury from the lightning strike in Delmenhorst, similar to the family from the incident. The weather in Germany seems to have been a factor in several unfortunate events, as evident from the incident by the Elbe riverbank in Dresden.
