Lightning kills climbers - his friend is right next to it
Created: 08/17/2022 05:28
By: Christoph Gschossmann
In Slovakia, a mountaineer died from a lightning strike (symbolic photo).
© imageBROKER/Roberto Facchini via www.imago-images.de
Lightning killed a climber in Slovakia.
His friend stood by and survived the impact with serious injuries.
Fatal accident caused by a lightning strike: In the Slovakian High Tatras, an electrical charge surprised two hikers.
One of them died - the other survived.
The two climbers came from Poland.
As the HZS mountain rescue service reported on Monday evening (August 15), the two were on a popular hiking trail below Mount Krivan when a storm suddenly blew up.
A 33-year-old was struck directly by lightning and died immediately.
This was determined by the emergency doctor who was brought to the scene of the accident by helicopter.
A climber dies - another is thrown away by the blast
His comrade, on the other hand, suffered serious injuries.
He was thrown to the side by the shock wave of the lightning and suffered injuries to his face and spine.
He survived.
The man was able to talk to the mountain rescuers and the doctor, but did not remember what happened.
He also could not feel or move his legs.
The helicopter flew him to the Poprad city hospital.
The mountain rescuers said his condition was stable.
The mountain rescue service took the accident as an opportunity to warn all mountain hikers to always expect rapid weather changes in the high mountains in summer.
If there is a risk of thunderstorms, one should avoid such paths from which it is not possible to return quickly to a safe environment.
Mount Krivan, featured on Slovak eurocent coins, is considered one of the national symbols of Slovakia.
(cg with dpa)
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