Miraculous Lightning Survivors
Five people struck by lightning during a family outing in Maine have escaped serious injury.
The lightning bolt hit the north end of the Mooselookmeguntic Lake campgrounds in Rangeley Plantation, inflicting varying degrees of burns on the two adults and three girls who were huddled there on top of a large rock.
A 13-year-old girl who was the most severely burned was taken directly to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, said Dave Reynolds, director of Rangeley Region Ambulance Service. She had a lightning entry wound in her shoulder and an exit wound in her ankle.
"From what the other family members said, they were all crouched down together just like they should be, and the lightning bolt struck, I've heard, between three and five feet away, so they're definitely very lucky," he told CBS Radio News.
He added that given the situation, the group did everything by the book, when it comes to avoiding lightning.
"They weren't near their tents or trees or anything like that. They were just huddled in a group near a large rock or on a large rock, and it sounded like they had done everything absolutely right."
The five were part of a larger family group that had started to set up a tent but were getting ready to take shelter as heavy rains moved into the area.
All of the injured were treated and then released.
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