Stormy sky over Soest in North Rhine-Westphalia (archive image)
Photo: Thomas Rensinghoff/ dpa
In several cities in the Ruhr area there was a strong thunderstorm on Monday - in Essen a man was critically injured.
The 56-year-old was struck by lightning during a violent storm.
He still had to be revived at the scene of the accident by the rescue service, as the fire brigade of the Ruhr city announced.
The seriously injured man was then flown to a special clinic in a rescue helicopter.
According to the fire brigade, thunderstorm cells caused high lightning intensity and heavy rain in Essen on Monday afternoon.
This has also led to numerous flooded basements.
The fire brigades deployed around 30 weather-related operations until the early evening.
ala/dpa
