AKIPRESS.COM - A rare lightning storm struck packed Venice Beach, Calif., Sunday, killing a 20-year-old man and injuring up to 12 others, one critically, after the same storm had struck a person on Catalina Island, the US meia report.
Firefighters said a bolt of lightning hit the water and the electrical current then traveled, hitting swimmers and surfers.
"The fire department assessed a total of 13 patients, and transported a total of eight patients," Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman Katherine Main said.
Five others were injured, but did not require hospitalization, she said.She said it appears to have been just one powerful lightning strike that hit the shoreline.
"Everyone that had a medical complaint was either in or near the water," Main said.