A 31-year-old woman has died after being struck by lightning while hiking in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, U.S.A., Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office said.
Three other hikers suffered injuries in the incident Friday, with one being sent to a local hospital for treatment.
The bolt struck the Mount Yale Trail, which runs just above the tree line at about 12,400 feet, about two hours west of Colorado Springs.
Mount Yale is a prominent summit in the state, rising above 14,000 feet.
It took responders several hours to reach the victims because of the rugged terrain.
Emergency responders initially thought two people had been struck and injured but that number later increased. Two of the hikers hit said they had lost consciousness for a relatively short time. Fortunately, they suffered no lasting impact and were able to make it safely down the mountain.
Two victims were from the Denver area, including the woman who died. She was located by responders on the mountain, where she was pronounced dead Friday evening.
A 32-year-old man was airlifted to a Colorado Springs hospital; he was listed in critical but stable condition.
Authorities believe the bolt of lightning struck early Friday afternoon. The area had no cellphone service, however, forcing witnesses to hike from the scene and drive to an area where they could notify emergency responders of the incident.
The National Weather Service had predicted some severe storms were possible for the day.
