A child is on life support after being hit by a lightning strike during a birthday party in Paris.
Emergency doctor Pierre Carli said three other children are seriously injured but ‘out of immediate danger’, with their injuries not thought to
be life-threatening.
The group of 11 people – ten children and an adult – were taking shelter underneath a tree during a torrential rainstorm when they were hit at about 3pm.
It was one of two serious lightning strikes in Europe, with 35 people taken to hospital after a strike at a children’s football match in Germany.
Heroic off-duty firefighter Pascal Gremillet was first on the scene at Paris’ Parc Monceau, finding nine of the 11 people unconscious.
A spokesman for Paris’ fire service credited Gremillet with playing a critical role in getting medical help.
He said: ‘He saw who was the most seriously injured. He did a quick triage of the victims. He did first aid. He alerted the rescue services.
‘Without his actions, it would have been much worse.’
Gremillet told French journalists that one child’s heart had stopped beating when he arrived. He said: ‘I did first aid (and) a heart massage.’
Gregoire Gauger, the local deputy mayor, said: ‘Unfortunately, they are local children participating in a birthday party who were affected.’
The children were taken to Necker Hospital.
Three adults, including the football match’s referee, were seriously injured in a similar incident in Hoppstaedten, Germany.
The referee, 45, suffered a cardiac arrest and had to be revived by onlookers and a doctor.
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