Lightning strikes near the White House: 3 dead, 1 injured
Authorities said a couple in their 70s were celebrating their anniversary and a 29-year-old man died after a lightning strike near the White House during a storm Thursday night. Another person was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.
The lightning strike occurred shortly before 7 p.m. in Lafayette Park across from the White House, according to the DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department.
James Mueller, 76, and Donna Mueller, 75, both from Janesville, Wisconsin, died of their injuries, Brianna Burch, a spokeswoman for the DC Metropolitan Police Department, told USA TODAY.
The third victim, 29, was pronounced dead on Friday. A fourth person, a woman, is in critical condition, police said. Their identities were not immediately revealed.
Authorities did not disclose how people were injured, other than saying they were seriously injured in the lightning strike.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of life following the lightning strike in Lafayette Park,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
All four were transported to hospital with “serious life-threatening injuries,” DC Fire and EMS said in a tweet Thursday.
Spokesman Vito Maggiolo said the lightning strike was witnessed by members of the US Secret Service and US Park Police who responded at the scene, said DC Fire spokesman Vito Maggiolo. and EMS said.
Parts of the DC metro area were under a severe thunderstorm warning Thursday night, according to the National Weather Service.
James and Donna Mueller are celebrating their 56th wedding anniversary Michelle McNett, the couple’s niece, said with a trip to the nation’s capital when they passed away. She remembered them as high school friends who loved to dance and organize get-togethers for their close-knit family.
Donna is a retired teacher who worked part-time at a furniture store in Janesville while Jim owns a drywall business, McNett said. They have 5 children, 10 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren.
“Both would do anything for family or friends,” McNett said.
There have been nine other lightning deaths in the US this year, said John Jensenius, lightning safety expert with the National Lightning Safety Council.
The incident was the first lightning strike death in Washington, DC since 1991 when one person was killed and 10 others injured as they took shelter near a tree at a baseball game, he said.
Jensenius said people should find a safe place to take shelter, such as a building, whenever a thunderstorm hits their area. Taking shelter under a tree can prove dangerous because “lightning tends to strike the tallest object in a nearby area, usually a tree.”
Contributors: Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY; Steven Martinez and Joe Taschler, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Related press
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