Europe

Thunderstorm in Poland kills five and injures more than 100

Lightning hit a group of tourists on Giewont, a 1,894-metre peak in the Tatra mountains

An injured tourist is transported to hospital in Zakopane, Poland, on Thursday, after a lightning strike. Photograph: EPA

Fri Aug 23 2019 - 09:27

Four people, two of them children, died and more than 100 were injured during a thunderstorm in Poland's Tatra mountains on Thursday, prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki has said.

A fifth person was killed by the storm in the West Tatras in neighbouring Slovakia, mountain rescue services reported.

Lightning hit a group of tourists on Giewont, a 1,894-metre mountain in Poland, after a sunny morning turned stormy, according to witnesses quoted on private broadcaster TVN24.

Injured tourists are transported to hospital after they were struck by lightning. Five people have died and more than 100 have been injured in the incident. Photograph: EPA

Tourists climbing Giewont often aim to end their trip at the summit, where a 15-metre iron cross was installed in 1901. The cross is believed to attract lightning.

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"Nobody expected such a sudden storm to break out and from our human point of view it was something which was impossible to predict," said Mr Morawiecki after a meeting of an emergency council in the southern town of Zakopane.

The mayor of Zakopane, Leszek Dorula, declared Friday a day of mourning, Polish news agency PAP reported.

Other victims were hurt in different parts of the Tatra range, which spreads over 57kms in southern Poland.

Joanna Sieradzka, spokesman for the Krakow Ambulance Service, said on TVN24 five helicopters had been involved in the rescue effort. - Reuters

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