Lightning strike kills man and hospitalizes 6-year-old child, Texas sheriff says

A lightning strike killed a man and hospitalized a 6-year-old child as rainstorms moved through Central Texas, authorities said.

First responders were called to the Laguna Park area at about 5 p.m. Monday, May 15, FOX44 reported.

Upon arrival, deputies found an unresponsive man and child, according to a news release from the Bosque County Sheriff’s Office.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said, and the child was rushed to a hospital for emergency care. The child was breathing on their own.

Authorities do not have an updated condition on the child as of May 16.

“Our prayers are with the family as they mourn the loss of a family member and pray for a full recovery of a young child,” the sheriff’s office said.

The names of the victims have not been released by authorities.

“Lightning kills about 20 people each year in the United States and hundreds more are injured,” according to the National Weather Service. “Some survivors suffer lifelong neurological damage.”

From 1989 to 2018, NWS Storm Data found that about 10% of people struck by lightning were killed.

Bosque County is about 50 miles northwest of Waco.

This story was originally published May 16, 2023 at 9:04 AM with the headline "Lightning strike kills man and hospitalizes 6-year-old child, Texas sheriff says."