Teenager dies after being hit by lightning on mountain
The boy was less than 80 metres away from shelter but could not be rescued due to the intensity of the storm.
A teenager has died after being struck by lightning while climbing down a famous peak in the Alps.
The 18-year-old was among three young men who visited the Zugspitze, which is Germany’s highest mountain, on Sunday afternoon.
A storm broke out as they descended from the summit, pelting the area with lightning bolts.
The descent to the nearest shelter – a terrace used by most visitors which is linked to the base by a cable car and railway – is a relatively short at 80 metres (260 feet), and many of the routes are accessible to beginners.
But the routes are lined with ‘via ferrata’, steel fixtures used by climbers to attach safety ropes to, which can act as lightning conductors.
Climbing experts recommend continuing to use via ferrata even in storms as the risk of falling outweighs the risk of lightning.
A bolt hit the victim as he and his friends fled the storm, causing a fatal electric shock, though it’s not known if he was using any metal fixtures at the time.
It’s understood staff were present at the terrace, and mountain rescue teams were quickly alerted.
But the storm made their efforts ‘extremely difficult’, preventing a helicopter from taking off.
The boy could only be reached after the storm had passed and was immediately pronounced dead.
A spokesperson for local police told the Bild newspaper: ‘It was a strong summer storm, it was violent on the mountain.’
There were a ‘large number of lightning strikes’ at the time, authorities added.
The risk of lightning strikes on the peak is reportedly heightened by the presence of via ferrata as well as many metal cables and railings in the area, which is part of a popular ski slope during the winter.
The Zugspitze peaks at 9,718ft (2962m) above sea level and lies on Germany’s border with Austria, also offering views of mountains in Swiss and Italian territory.
The victim was said to be from the North Rhine-Westphalia region in Germany, which was among several countries in western Europe battered by storms over the weekend.
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