BERLIN: Nine people were injured after a lightning strike hit a sports festival at night in Germany’s south-western state of Baden-Württemberg, police said on Saturday, reported German Press Agency (dpa).
Six were taken to hospital, but none were in a life-threatening condition, according to a spokesman. Several people had pitched tents on a sports field for a handball festival in the town of Rastatt near Karlsruhe when a severe storm swept through the region.
A woman was slightly injured by another lightning strike about 100 kilometres south-east, also on a sports field. Emergency services transported her to a hospital.
Severe storms accompanied by torrential rain hit parts of the neighbouring state of Rhineland-Palatinate, causing significant flooding. Firefighters responded to dozens of call-outs, but major damage was largely avoided.
At the northern tip of Germany, 13 people sustained minor injuries when a storm wrought havoc at a festival near the city of Flensburg. The event in Viöl with around 5,000 attendees was temporarily evacuated overnight but allowed to resume on Saturday morning.
The German Weather Service predicted more thunderstorms for Saturday in western and southern areas of the country. The meteorologists had previously issued severe weather warnings for the regions of Aachen, Bonn, Cologne, Dusseldorf and other parts of the Ruhr region. – BERNAMA-dpa
