Six lightning-struck pupils remain in hospital

13 February 2013 - 18:05 By Sapa
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Six schoolchildren are still in hospital in Johannesburg after being hit by lightning earlier this week, provincial authorities said.

Gauteng education department spokesman Charles Phahlane said on Wednesday that three of them were in critical condition.

A lightning strike at Protea Glen Secondary School in Soweto on Monday, left four girls injured.

On Tuesday, lightning struck nine boys at King Edward VII School (KES) in Parktown, Johannesburg.

Phahlane said three of the four Protea Glen girls remained in hospital on Wednesday afternoon.

One of them was in a critical condition, while the other two were stable.

Netcare 911 group manager Mande Toubkin said three of the nine KES boys were still in Milpark Hospital.

She said two of the boys remained on the critical list. The third was in a stable condition, but was being kept in for observation.

The Protea Glen girls, all aged 16, were struck by lightning while on their way home from school, Phahlane said.

The boys, aged between 16 and 18, were pulling the covers over a cricket pitch when a bolt of lightning struck the field.

On Tuesday, the school posted updates on Twitter as news broke of the accident. It said the nine boys struck by lightning were all members of the school's first XI cricket team.

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