Man seriously hurt in lightning strike in north

A 19-year-old man sustained serious injuries Sunday in a lightning strike in northern Israel, less than two months after a fatal bolt killed a teenager.

The man, who was struck near Kibbutz Ramat HaShofet, was taken to the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa for treatment.

His friends told the Magen David Adom ambulance service that there heavy rain followed by a bolt of lightning, after which they noticed their friend lying on the ground. The group were standing in an open field at the time.

“The young man’s life was saved thanks to the treatment in the field that he got from his friends,” his doctor at Rambam said.

Medics treat a 19-year-old Israeli who was struck by lightning while standing in an open field in northern Israel on December 8, 2019. (Magen David Adom)

The man sustained severe burns and was unconscious and connected to a respirator when he was taken to the hospital. Medics said he was in serious but stable condition.

In October, a 14-year-old boy, Asher Hazut, died after he was struck by lightning during a family outing to a beach.

Hazut’s death was the first in Israel from a lightning strike since 2007, when a fisherman was killed off the northern coast.

Winter has so far been late in Israel this year, but the weather was forecast to turn colder, wetter, and more stormy in the coming days.