Ten teenagers and their instructor were injured by lightning on Monday 7th August, in the early evening at a recreation center in Vienne. A 15 year old was on Monday night in a “very serious condition”.
A youth group was hit Monday night by lightning at a recreation center of Lathus-Saint-Rémy (Vienne), about sixty kilometers south-east of Poitiers.
According to authorities, lightning ‘has struck suddenly “ around 7pm on a camping outdoor center. The group of sixteen young people, aged 13 to 17 years, who arrived in the morning from Descartes, in Indre-et-Loire, was hit.
“The lightning struck the leisure center based in Lathus-Saint-Rémy in the south of Vienne, yet the region was not in the orange alert for storms, so that children and their instructor were outside”, according to information gathered by Europe1.fr.
A teenager in cardiac arrest
Among them, a teenager was Monday night in a “very serious condition” after being “in cardiac arrest” . Also suffering from “burns”, he was evacuated to the University Hospital of Tours, the prefecture said in a statement.
Two teenage girls were transported to hospital in Poitiers. Five other teenagers who suffer from tinnitus and ringing problems were also transported by hospital services.
“This group of 16 young people from 13 to 17 was to perform multi-sport activities on the site of Lathus, for a week,” said the prefecture. “Parents of the victims have been informed and will be welcomed by the medical team of Poitiers” said the prefecture. A medico-psychological unit should be set up, according to a statement from the prefecture.
Le SG de la préf M. SOUMBO s’est rendu sur place avec Maire de Lathus suite à la foudre qui s’est abattue au CPA Lathus. pic.twitter.com/T32cw3r1ci
— Préfet de la Vienne (@Prefet86) August 7, 2017
Thirteen departments located on an axis from the central Pyrenees to Auvergne were placed on orange alert for thunderstorms Monday evening until Tuesday morning. Vienna, however, was not part of the departments placed on alert.
