20 injured by lightning on beach in South Carolina: Reports

By Zehra Nur Celik

ANKARA (AA) – A lightning strike injured 20 people on a beach near Lake Murray in South Carolina late Tuesday, according to US local media on Wednesday.

Some 12 children and six adults were transported to nearby hospitals, while two others sought medical attention on their own, NBC News cited Lexington County spokesperson Vanessa Diaz as saying.

The severity of the injuries and the ages of those affected were not immediately known, but Diaz described all injuries as non-life-threatening.

She noted that the lightning strike occurred on a hot and sunny day with no rainfall, though a lone storm cloud had briefly passed overhead.

“It didn’t rain or anything like that; it was just a random storm cloud that went by,” she said.