One soldier was killed and nine others were injured in a lightning strike Wednesday at Fort Gordon Army Base in Georgia, a spokesman said.
The episode happened about 11:10 a.m. in a training area on the base, spokeswoman Ann H. Bowman said. There were isolated but strong thunderstorms in the area at the time.
“It is with a heavy heart that Fort Gordon confirms that one of the Soldiers injured in the lightning strike this afternoon has died of his injuries,” Ms. Bowman wrote in an email Wednesday evening.
She said the extent of the other nine soldiers’ injuries was not known at this time and that she did not know if they were all struck by lightning or if the lightning caused the injuries in some other way.
Fort Gordon Emergency Services and EMS immediately responded to the scene, Ms. Bowman said. The soldiers were taken to Dwight D. Eisenhower Medical Center, which is on the base, she added.
The base, which is about 10 miles southwest of Augusta, Georgia, is home to the Army’s cyber operations wing and an information and communications technology training program, among other departments.
Ms Bowman said the army would not release the soldiers’ names until their families had been notified.
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