Thirteen children and two teachers have landed in a hospital after a lightning strike at an Australian school. The victims are said to be experiencing mild tingling symptoms.
Local media reports that the students, aged between 10 and 12 years, were playing in an open sports field when lightning struck nearby just a few minutes after 1:30 pm local time.
According to media house Xinhua, some of the students were reportedly playing with water in celebration of their last day of school and following the lightning strike, Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) initially responded with a team of five paramedics to Clinton State School in central Queensland State.
A spokesperson told the media that all the 15 patients who were transported to a nearby hospital are in a stable condition with mild physical complaints.
“The kids were pretty wound up after the incident.
“The main complaints were anxiety, but also tingling to the lower limbs,’’ QAS Regional-acting senior operations supervisor Greg Christensen said.
“The initial scene was a little bit chaotic, the children were obviously very distraught at what had just happened, but it calmed very quickly once we had assured them that everything was ok.,’ he added.
According to a statement by the Principal of the School, Leanne Ibell, the teachers were in the process of moving students away from the area when the lightning struck, adding that there was no rain on the oval at the time and that other students were returned to their classrooms as a precaution.
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