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17 injured as lightning strikes Peace & Love

Published: 26 Jun 12 17:01 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/41668/20120626/

Seventeen festivalgoers had to be taken to hospital with minor injuries on Tuesday after having been struck by lightning at the on-going Peace & Love music festival near Borlänge, central Sweden.

“First we saw a lightning flash and then we heard a really loud clap of thunder. The next thing we knew, the ambulances had come,” said one witness, Amanda Andersen, to the Dagens Nyheter newspaper (DN).

However, no one was seriously wounded and all the injured people were conscious when the ambulances arrived. Those taken to hospital are now "up and walking", according to TT.

”They have no visible wounds, they were holding umbrellas and other objects that conduct electricity,” said Lena Sterner of the Dalarna county council to DN.

The confirmed lightning strike occurred around 3pm on Tuesday afternoon, shortly after the event had begun.

However, according to yet uncorroborated information to the police, there was more than one lightning strike in the festival area.

”It was reportedly on the actual festival site and as far as we know, there is one person injured,” said Bo Eriksson of the county police to TT.

According to Ronny Matsson, press officer at the festival, there were both campers and festival staff at the actual site who had sustained milder injuries.

“They were all holding metal objects when lightning struck,” he told news agency TT.

However, Matsson also said that although it had been raining quite a bit, he had not seen much of a thunderstorm in the area prior to the lightning strike.

The Peace & Love festival is one of Sweden's largest and most popular music events, and this year's boasts the likes of Rihanna, Roxette and Regina Spektor as headline performers.

TT/Rebecca Martin
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01:58 June 27, 2012 by Da Goat
I could do with a piece of that love!
05:23 June 27, 2012 by Smokebox
I have a rain coat for them...
08:08 June 27, 2012 by Keith #5083
I had heard that love is an illuminating experience and that the ground shakes beneath you when you fall in love.That it can be so shocking was news to me.
08:39 June 27, 2012 by skogsbo
people do love this myth of holding a metal object, chances are the lightning hit the ground or some arena equipment. Once the lightning reaches the ground it cam induce a current up to 30metres away from the impact point, also if you are stood close to say some stage rigging that gets zapped, you can get a major tickle from side flash or contact voltage. Those commenting who heard / saw the flash and bang separate were not that close, when it comes down real close they are inseperable and the bang is like a gun shot going off next to you.(ie ear splitting).

People need educating on this thing of holding metal objects, it makes no difference to lightning, if you are holding a metal object or not, the strike will occur towards you regardless, what the metal does though is provide the lightning with the shortest and route of least resistance to ground / earth. Unless you are holding a metal pointy object that is as tall as a tree (or significantly taller than everything around you), you aren't increasing your chances at all. The human body is nearly all water, a very bad conductor compared to many other substances, lightning would prefer a quicker route!! There is some good info out there and as Sweden does OK for it's volume of storms folk should google the 'lightning crouch' or look here if you are curious http://www.smhi.se/vadret/nederbord-molnighet/blixtar# a fantastic site that show storms and individual lightning strikes, updated every 30mins.
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