Mormon youths hospitalized after lightning strikes during hiking trip

About 50 youths felt the shock and seven were hospitalized after lightning struck the ground next to them Thursday afternoon in central Utah, the Sevier County Sheriff said on Friday. The Mormon youth group was hiking near an overlook in eastern Sevier County when rain started to fall, creating puddles on the ground, the sheriff said. That’s when lightning struck the ground. The seven youths were taken by ambulance to Salina, Utah, where the group was from.

What are the conditions of the victims now? Two youths had what the sheriff described as serious symptoms and were taken by helicopter from Salina to a hospital over 100 miles away. The other five youths were taken to area hospitals. None of the injuries were expected to be life-threatening, the sheriff said on Thursday. The rest of the youth returned to their parents and had not reported any other medical issues as of Thursday.

How common is it to be struck by lightning? The odds of being struck by lightning in a given year are less than one in a million, according to the National Weather Service. Ten percent of people who are struck by lightning die. The NWS reports five ways lightning can strike people, including through ground currents or conductors such as metal.