TWEED HEADS , Australia, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- An U.S. hiker died when he was struck by lightning while atop a mountain in Australia, police said.
Sam Beattie, 24, was on a yearlong vacation with his girlfriend, Michele Segalla, 23, and had set up a tent early Tuesday near a tree atop Mount Warning, a popular hiking spot near Murwillumbah in Australia's New South Wales state. As rain closed in, Beattie's foot was on a tree that was struck by lightning. He was electrocuted, and Segalla was injured. Two other people on the mountaintop, 3,600 feet above sea level and noted for spectacular sunrises, were not injured.
Two teenage boys, hiking near the scene of the incident, performed CPR for more than an hour in an attempt to resuscitate Beatttie. Because of the weather, a helicopter was unable to reach the summit. A rescue crew of 15 hiked for four hours in the rain to bring the group, and Beattie's body, down the mountain.
Beattie and Segalla lived in Duxbury, Mass., before moving to New York.
A spokesman for NSW Ambulance said Segalla suffered neck injuries and singed hair from the lightning strike. More than 5,000 lightning strikes were reported in the area on Monday evening.
