Four people have been critically injured after a lightning strike outside the White House, fire officials said on Thursday.
The fire and emergency medical services department for the District of Columbia said that four people were hurt in Lafayette Park, which is right next to the White House complex.
All of them were taken to local hospitals in very bad shape. Part of the park was still closed Thursday night, and emergency workers were still there.
Even though details about the strike were still sketchy, the Washington Post said it was caused by a big thunderstorm that hit the city in the evening, bringing strong winds and bad weather.
In a separate incident on Thursday, a lightning strike in Wyoming’s Bridger-Teton national forest killed one student and injured another, officials said.
John D. Murphy, who was 22 and from Boston, died of cardiac arrest after being struck by lightning while on a trip with a group from the National Outdoor Leadership School, a non-profit global wilderness school.
Terry Watson, president of the school, called the lightning strike “a very sad day” for the school, its students, and their families.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the family of our student who passed away on this course and are focused on supporting their family through its difficult process,” she said in a statement.
