Lightning strikes kills and injure in Europe

A man was killed in southern Poland as he
was hit by lightning while descending a
mountain.
In Paris, a birthday party in Parc Monceau
was struck, injuring 11 people, eight of them

children. Several are in a life-threatening
condition.
Three people were seriously hurt at a youth
football match in Germany.
Initial reports said 35 people had been
injured at the match in Hoppstaedten in the
country's south-west - however, many were
taken to hospital as a precaution.
Paris police said the children injured in Parc
Monceau on Saturday afternoon were aged
about nine.
They were struck after seeking shelter under
a tree, police said.
An off-duty firefighter, Pascal Gremillot,
happened to be nearby and was able to
rapidly administer first aid and heart
massages. Officials said the situation would
have been much worse if he had not been
there.
Six of those injured are in a serious condition.
Reports in Poland said that a man in his 40s
died after being hit by lightning while hiking
in the mountains in the south of the country.
Separately, a second man was found dead in a
river swollen by heavy rains.
Another group of three tourists were struck by
lightning in the mountains, mountain rescue
told TVN24.
'Blue sky'
Witnesses to the lightning strike at a football
match in Hoppstaedten said there were no
dark clouds and the sky was blue when
lightning struck at the end of the match.
The referee was one of three adults at the
match who suffered serious injuries, police in
Kaiserslautern said. He took a direct lightning
hit, suffered a cardiac arrest and was taken to
hospital by helicopter.
Another man was also airlifted to hospital and
a third was taken by ambulance. All three
injured men were in their 40s, the police
added.
According to German media reports, some of
the child footballers, aged nine to 11, were
taken to hospital as a precaution after
electrocardiogram (ECG) investigations
showed their heart function required further
investigation.