Oklahoma girl dies after group struck by lightning while swimming
The four girls were swimming at the popular Blue Hole Park about 10:45 a.m. Saturday when the bolt hit.
FILE: Lightning strikes wires in front of news crew
The FOX 2 Detroit news crew was covering the storm when a lightning strike directly in front of them took them by surprise. Listen to the shock of the man in the car.
SALINA, Okla. – A girl has died days after she and three friends were struck by lightning in northeastern Oklahoma.
The four girls were swimming at the popular Blue Hole Park about 10:45 a.m. Saturday when the bolt hit.
FILE: Blue Hole Park near Salina, Oklahoma. (Photo by Lori Duckworth/Oklahoma Tourism)
(Oklahoma Tourism )
Officials with the Grand River Dam Authority Police Department said two of the girls were taken to Tulsa Hospital by ambulance, and the other two were taken to Pryor Hospital in personal vehicles.
This week, three of the girls were released. One succumbed to her injuries, according to police.
FILE: Dry lightning is obscured by thick smoke.
(Christopher Scragg / FOX Weather)
Her death is the ninth confirmed lightning fatality of the year in the U.S. and the first this year in Oklahoma, according to John Jensenius, lightning safety specialist at the National Lightning Safety Council.
He added that the U.S. averages 16 lightning fatalities through Aug. 10, based on the past 10 years.
WHY YOU SHOULD RUSH INDOORS WHEN YOU SEE LIGHTNING OR HEAR THUNDER
At the time the lightning struck the girls, scattered thunderstorms were moving across Oklahoma with lightning, small hail and gusty winds.