Group of 50 kids from Utah church group shocked by lightning on hike: "Mom, I just got hit!" (video)

[Carla_Sinclair]

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/07/01/group-of-50-kids-from-utah-church-group-shocked-by-lightning-on-hike-mom-i-just-got-hit-video.html

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[euansmith]

Poor kids. I hope they don’t suffer any long term effects.

[anon94804983]

[blackanvil]

I’m a bit surprised they didn’t mention ground currents. Lightning and electricity like to take the shortest path to ground, so if you’re in the way, you may get shocked. For hikers and campers, this is usually due to being on the side of a mountain in a hollow or cut when lightning strikes higher up, and as the current flows down to the rest of the Earth it takes a shortcut through the depression and, if you’re in it, you. Usually less intense than a direct strike, and with a higher chance of survival without injury, but if you’re lying on the ground (or in a sleeping bag in a tent for example) and just the wrong ground current comes along, it has been fatal.

[Alvin_Goodman]

Grump old man here - people don’t know how to shoot video, they shouldn’t have cameras.