5 killed by lightning

Photo: Cecelia Louis-Ralston

UPDATE 12:53 p.m.

Lightning struck across the Tatra Mountains in southern Poland and neighbouring Slovakia on Thursday, killing five people and injuring over 100 others in an area popular with hikers and families, authorities said.

Witnesses said the thunderstorm came suddenly on a day that began with clear weather. Four people were killed on the Polish side, including two children, a spokeswoman for the Polish air ambulance service, Kinga Czerwinska, told the news broadcaster TVN24. Slovak authorities said one person died in their nation.

The lightning strikes hit the Giewont peak as well as other locations across the Tatras.

Some of the injured were brought by helicopter to a hospital in the Polish mountain resort of Zakopane. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who went to Zakopane said some among the over 100 injured were in very serious condition with severe burns or head injuries.

ORIGINAL 9:51 a.m.

A spokeswoman for Poland's air ambulance service says four people have been killed and over 30 injured when lighting struck different locations in the Tatra Mountains.

Kinga Czerwinska told TVN24 that lightning hit Giewont peak, a popular trekking destination, and other locations Thursday in the mountains in southern Poland. She said some of the injured were brought by helicopter to the hospital in Zakopane, in the Tatras, while others were taken elsewhere.

Witnesses said the thunderstorm came suddenly on a day that began with clear weather.