A 12-year-old boy and a man in his 50s have been reportedly struck by lightning during a football tournament at Sele School in Hertford, East of England.
Sky News reports that the boy is in a critical condition in hospital after the Monday afternoon incident.
It was learnt that the boy, who was from an outside school, was playing in a district tournament when a bolt struck both him and the other man, with both rushed to separate hospitals.
The boy was taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge for treatment, while the man in his 50s was also hurt in the lightning strike, and has been taken to the Princess Alexandra hospital in Harlow, Essex, for “further care.”
The head teacher of Sele School, Chris Quach in a statement released on Facebook noted that the lightning strike also affected several people, during the tournament.
The statement reads in part; “‘On Monday 2 October after school there was a Football Tournament, organised by the District, which took place at The Sele School.
“Unfortunately, during the tournament, there was a lightning strike which affected several people, two of whom, one adult and one student from another local secondary school, were taken to hospital for treatment.
“The entire staff of The Sele School, the wider school community and I would like to thank the emergency services, the parents and staff who were attending the match and were so helpful and our first aiders who did an amazing job while waiting for the emergency services to respond.
“Our good wishes and thoughts are with the people who were injured,” the statement added.