Lightning strike at park in Paris leaves 11 injured

A firetruck waits Saturday at the entrance of Park Monceau in Paris after lightning injured 11 people at a child’s birthday party.
A firetruck waits Saturday at the entrance of Park Monceau in Paris after lightning injured 11 people at a child’s birthday party.

PARIS -- Eight children and three adults were struck by lightning Saturday in a Paris park after a sudden spring storm sent a bolt crashing down on a children's birthday party, a spokesman for Paris' fire service said.

He credited an off-duty firefighter with playing a critical role in getting medical help to the victims but added that some were still fighting for their lives.

Another group of people at a children's soccer match in western Germany also were hit by lightning Saturday afternoon, leaving three adults seriously injured.

The birthday group had sought shelter under a tree at Park Monceau, a northwest Paris park, when a lightning bolt touched down, according to Paris fire service spokesman Eric Moulin. He put the children's ages at around 9.

Moulin said Cmdr. Pascal Gremillet, an off-duty firefighter, was visiting a museum nearby when he noticed the commotion and discovered nine of the 11 victims lying unconscious. He immediately went to work.

"He saw who was the most seriously injured. He did a quick triage of the victims. He did first aid. He alerted the rescue services," Moulin said. "Without his actions, it would have been much worse."

Gremillet told journalists that one child's heart had stopped beating when he arrived.

"I did first aid [and] a heart massage," he said. The other children "were in shock."

Dr. Pierre Carli, an emergency medical services official, later told journalists that for one of the children, "the prognosis is probably more serious and he is now hospitalized on life support."

For the seven other children, the news was "rather good," Carli said. Their injuries were not considered life-threatening. He said the conditions of three of the most critically injured children were improving.

He identified the injured adults as two men and a woman who is the mother of some of the children.

Footage shot by the fire service showed a nearby bank that was commandeered as a makeshift treatment center, with children wrapped in gold thermal blankets sitting and lying on the building's tiled floor as firefighters administered first aid before evacuating the victims to hospitals. Two small feet, smudged with what looked like soot, stuck out from underneath one of the blankets.

In western Germany, police said more than 30 people were taken to the hospital after lightning struck a children's soccer match Saturday afternoon. Three adults were seriously injured in the strike in Hoppstaetten, including the 45-year-old referee, who suffered cardiac arrest after being hit directly by lightning and had to be revived by onlookers and a doctor.

All 29 of the children, ages 9 to 11, who had taken part in the match also were taken to hospitals, police said in a statement. However, it stressed that it was "a purely precautionary measure" in their case. A spectator also was taken to the hospital as a precaution.

The game had just finished when lightning struck about 2 p.m., police spokesman Dominik Lentz said on n-tv.

"According to what everyone present says, there were no clouds in the sky ... so this incident couldn't have been expected," he said.

Information for this article was contributed by Geir Moulson of The Associated Press.

A Section on 05/29/2016

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