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Rare Lightning Strike at Los Angeles Beach Kills 1, Injures 8

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Lifeguards assist a person who was in the water and apparently struck by lightning in Los Angeles, July 27, 2014.
Lifeguards assist a person who was in the water and apparently struck by lightning in Los Angeles, July 27, 2014.

One man died and at least eight people were injured on Sunday in a lightning strike during a rare thunderstorm at Venice Beach in Los Angeles, officials said.

Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman Katherine Main told the French news agency AFP that one of the individuals was in grave condition following the afternoon incident, while another was considered critical. The status of the remaining six was listed as fair.

Seven of those taken to hospital were adults while the eighth was a 15-year-old, Main added.

She could not comment on their current conditions.

Near the water

Victims were apparently in the water or very close to it when the lightning struck, local officials told the broadcaster.

The eight survivors were hospitalized for treatment and observation after the lightning hit near Ocean Front Walk facing the Pacific Ocean, around 2:15 p.m. (2115 GMT), said Main.

A 20-year-old man taken to Marina Del Rey Hospital was later pronounced dead, according to the Los Angeles county coroner's department.

The cause of death was still being determined, a spokesman said.

A man looks at a BMW car that was damaged by a lightning strike on Haynes Lane in a residential area of Redondo Beach, California, July 27, 2014.
A man looks at a BMW car that was damaged by a lightning strike on Haynes Lane in a residential area of Redondo Beach, California, July 27, 2014.

On rocky Catalina Island off the coast of nearby Long Beach, a 57-year-old man was injured after a lightning strike, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said.

The bolt of electricity made a loud crack that sounded like an explosion on a warm and overcast afternoon, witnesses said.

“I heard this crackle and there was this giant bolt of lightning shooting across the sky and the loudest thunder I've ever heard,” witness Joe Doro told KCAL-TV.

Witnesses speaking to the Los Angeles Times described scenes of panic as the sky darkened and lightning erupted shortly thereafter, accompanied by thunder and rain.

"You could hear everybody screaming," Angelica Roquemore told the newspaper.

Weather forecast

The National Weather Service had predicted a chance of thunderstorms around Southern California on Sunday, and lightning was also being blamed for a power outage affecting about 300 customers in Redondo Beach, about 19 kilometers (12 miles) south of Venice.

Lightning injuries or fatalities can occur during a direct strike or after a current is passed through the ground or jumps from a taller object, such as a tree, according to the National Weather Service.

Symptoms can range from cardiac arrest and injury to the nervous system to muscle soreness, headache, and confusion.

Some information for this report provided by Reuters and AFP.

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