Two tourists killed in lightning strike on Majorca beach as man folded away metal parasol
TWO foreign holidaymakers have died in a lightning strike at the same beach in Majorca.
One of the men died instantly at a white sand cove called Cala Mesquida near Capdepera in the north-east of the island.
The other victim, believed to be unknown to the first, started convulsing and died around 40 minutes afterwards despite efforts by emergency responders to revive him at the scene.
The drama occurred during a storm in the area and led to the popular beach, famed for its white sand and crystalline waters, being evacuated briefly to avoid a further tragedy.
Local reports said one of the men was killed after it began raining hard and he put his hand on the metal handle of his parasol to fold it away and leave the beach with his wife when lightning lit up the sky.
Lifeguard Federico Parisin told one island newspaper he had rushed over to one of them when he saw smoke coming from his body from a distance, adding: “When we reached him his body was completely carbonised.
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“We began to try to revive the other man while a fierce electrical storm was raging above us and fearing for our lives as well.”
The two people who lost their lives, a Swiss man aged 65 and a German aged 51, are not thought to have been part of the same group although they were close by each other.
Their bodies were shielded using sun loungers and parasols while police and other emergency responders waited for court officials to arrive and approve their removal.
There were no reports of any other casualties and it was not immediately clear if any British tourists were on the beach at the time.
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Local police and Civil Guard helped clear the beach briefly after yesterday's 3.30pm tragedy.
The drama happened just nine days after a 20-month-old girl was killed by a huge hail stone around four inches in diameter and more than 70 others injured by falling ice in and around the Catalan town of La Bisbal de l’Emporda.
Most of those hurt suffered head wounds, cuts and broken bones.