‘THE EARTH EXPLODED’

Lightning Strike During Cub Scout Event Leaves One Dead and 13 Injured

A bolt hit a tree in New Jersey, killing a 61-year-old volunteer instructor.

A lightning bolt tore through a Cub Scout event at an archery range Wednesday evening, striking a tree and fatally injuring their 61-year-old instructor Robert Montgomery. Thirteen others—at least four of them children—suffered burns, shock, or brief loss of consciousness in the incident at the Black Knight Bowbenders range around 7 p.m, CBS News reports. Rescuers used CPR and a defibrillator on two victims before ambulances were sent to three hospitals; one patient went to a burn center. Witness Gene Grodzk told ABC7 New York, “It was insanely loud, and the Earth… like the Earth exploded and it was dirt flying everywhere.” Gov. Phil Murphy called the strike “tragic” in an X post. The death is New Jersey’s second lightning fatality in eight days, following a golfer’s death on a Sussex County course last week, the New York Post reports. Lightning kills about 20 Americans each year, most in summer.

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