Boy critically hurt after lightning strike in Hertford

A 12-year-old boy is in a critical condition in hospital after being struck by lightning in Hertford.

He was taking part in a district football tournament at The Sele School yesterday afternoon.

The boy was taken to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge for treatment.

A man in his 50s was also hurt in the lightning strike, and has been taken to the Princess Alexandra hospital in Harlow, Essex, for 'further care'

A spokesperson for East of England Ambulance service said;

'We were called at 5.16pm with reports that two people, a 12 year old boy and a man in his fifties, had been struck by lightning in Welwyn Road, Hertford.

'We sent East Anglian Air Ambulance, two ambulance officer vehicles, an ambulance, a BASICS vehicle and a rapid response car.

'The child was taken to Addenbrooke's Hospital in a critical condition and the man was taken to Princess Alexandra Hospital for further care. Both were conveyed by land ambulance.

'We would like to thank our emergency services colleagues and members of the public at the scene who provided first aid and CPR while our crews were on their way.'

The headteacher of Sele School, Chris Quach has released a statement on facebook.

It says;

'On Monday 2 October after school there was a Football Tournament, organised by the District, which took place at The Sele School.

'Unfortunately, during the Tournament there was a lightning strike which affected several people, two of whom, one adult and one student from another local secondary school, were taken to hospital for treatment.

'The entire staff of The Sele School, the wider school community and I would like to thank the emergency services, the parents and staff who were attending the match and were so helpful and our first aiders who did an amazing job while waiting for the emergency services to respond.

'Our good wishes and thoughts are with the people who were injured.'

The boy injured was representing another local secondary school.

Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app.