Four dead after lighting strikes summit of Polish mountain

Aug. 22 (UPI) -- At least four people died and more than 100 people were injured in lightning strikes in Poland on Thursday.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said four helicopters were deployed to transport injured people to hospitals in Krakow, Prokocim, Limanowa, Nowy Targ and Zakopane after the most severe lightning struck a group of hikers on the summit of the Giewont mountain.

It is believed a lightning bolt struck a structure on the mountain and traveled along a metal railing as a large group of hikers were at the summit.

"We heard that after lightning struck, people fell. The current then continued along the chains securing the ascent, striking everyone along the way," Polish mountain rescue chief Jan Krzysztof said.

A fifth person also died in the neighboring country of Slovakia after the storm suddenly descended.

"Nobody expected such a sudden storm to break out and from our human point of view it was something which was impossible to predict," Morawiecki said.