9 Injured After Tree Gets Struck by Lightning and Falls on Tent at Pennsylvania Pool
Nine people were injured on Sunday when a lightning strike sent a tree crashing through a tent pavilion at a Pennsylvania swim club.
An emergency medical services team was dispatched to the Dolphin Swim Club in Feasterville to tend to several injuries after a tree that had been struck by lightning fell onto a tent in a picnic area, the Tri-Hampton Rescue Squad said in a statement.
The squad said swim club lifeguards and staff had freed all of the victims from the wreckage by the time EMS crews arrived just before 5 p.m. local time.
While photos show a collapsed tent over wooden picnic benches, WTXF reports that the tree did not fall directly on top of anyone, and no clubgoers were pinned down by it.
Nine patients — seven children and two adults, according to local ABC station WPVI — were taken to the Trauma Center at St. Mary Medical Center for injuries that mostly involved the head, neck, and back.
A spokeswoman for the hospital did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for updates on the victims’ conditions.
“When the tree fell everybody started screaming,” witness Alex Serrano told WPVI, adding that the storm took down several other trees at the public pool. “I couldn’t look because it was really heavy rain.”
Lower Southampton Township Supervisor Raymond Weldie told the outlet the damage consisted of leaves, branches, and debris inside the tent, as well as a large tree branch that appeared “severely charred or burnt.”
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Representatives for the Lower Southampton Township Fire Marshal Office and the Dolphin Swim Club did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
