Horrific moment hammock seller and female vacationer are killed after being struck by lightning while walking along Mexican beach during thunderstorm
- Two people were struck by lightning and killed on a beach in Michoacán, Mexico on Monday
- Video footage showed a woman walking away from the water when she was hit by a bolt of lighting moments before the man was also struck
- The female was pronounced dead on the scene and the man was rushed to a hospital, where he died
A hammock seller and a female vacationer were killed after they were struck by lightning on a beach in the western Mexican state of Michoacán.
The man and woman could be seen in a video walking on the sands of Maruata Beach when the bolt struck them Monday afternoon.
The female victim appeared to have walked out from the water when she was struck by lightning. The male was then shocked within a second.
The electric shock’s impact sent a beach worker and other swimmers running for their safety.
A woman and a man (circled) were spotted walking on a beach in Michoacán, Mexico when they were struck by lighting and killed Monday
A merchant (circled) is seen walking on a beach in Mexico just as lightning struck and killed a woman several feet away from him moments before he was shocked, too, and later died at a hospital
Lightning strikes a woman at beach in Mexico just seconds before a man near her was also shocked. Both individuals were confirmed dead
The female victim was pronounced dead at the scene. The man was rushed to a local hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries.
Aquila Mayor José Valencia revealed that the woman was a resident from the central state of Guanajuato. He also said that the man, who sold hammocks on the beach, resided in the nearby state of Colima.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), at least 40 million lightning strikes hit the ground in the United States each year.
Although the chances of being struck by lightning each year are less than one in a million, close to 90 percent of the victims do survive.
The chances of a person being struck multiple times is way less, with it happening seven times in a lifetime.
National Weather Service data shows that in 2023, 11 people have been killed by lightning strikes in the United States, including two people in separate boating and swimming incidents.
In comparison, 19 people died after the were struck last year, a increase from 11 in 2021.
Beachgoers seek cover at a beach in Michoacán, Mexico on Monday after two people were struck by lightning. One of the victims was declared dead on the scene and the other died at an area hospital
Two people were struck and killed by lightning at a beach in Aquila, a town off the Pacific coast in the Mexican state of Michoacán on Monday
The federal weather agency says there are five ways in which lighting can strike people.
A direct strike is happens in open areas. While it’s not considered the most common, it can be the deadliest.
‘In most direct strikes, a portion of the current moves along and just over the skin surface (called flashover) and a portion of the current moves through the body–usually through the cardiovascular and/or nervous systems,’ the National Weather Service explains.
A person can also received a jolt from a lighting bolt from a side flash. Lightning tends to strike an object that is taller than a victim – for example a tree – and parts of the current is transmitted from the object to the victim.