The Metropolitan Police Washington, United States, confirmed that two of the four people who were injured by a lightning strike in the vicinity of the White House lost their lives. The other two are in critical condition.
According to what the forces of the US capital reported, the victims of the fatal accident are a couple of tourists, a 76-year-old man and a 74-year-old woman, originally from the state of Wisconsin, who were visiting in Washington.
Source: (Fox 5 Washington DC)
The couple – and the other two people whose identities have not yet been released – were surprised by a strong storm that unloaded in the metropolitan area of Washington on Thursday evening. To shelter from the rain, tourists tried to take shelter under a tree near the equestrian statue of former US President Andrew Jackson. That was where the lightning struck that seriously injured them.
The authorities had issued a warning
The National Weather Service had issued a warning for severe thunderstorms that would affect the us federal district between 6:30 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. and asked citizens to be careful about the risks that gusts of wind of 96 kilometers per hour and hail could cause.
Shortly before 7 p.m., the storm did indeed hit Washington and fatally wounded these tourists who were walking in Lafayette Park, in front of the official residence of the US president.
The four wounded were treated at the scene by the Park Police and by the Secret Service, which is in charge of protecting the White House. Firefighters who took the two men and two women to the hospital had suggested that, despite their critical condition, they had a chance of survival. For now, two of them are still fighting for their lives.