A woman has reportedly been left paralysed after she was crushed under a tree as it was struck by lightning in China's Guangdong Province.
The tree, which was situated on a steep trail on Shitou Mountain, near the city of Zhongshan, split in two when the lightning hit it on April 5 which is Tomb Sweeping Day, when Chinese people pay homage to their ancestors. The woman was one of several people climbing in the area and she was on the phone when the incident happened.
The man who took and shared the video, who has been called Mr Chen, described how several trees in the area were hit with the powerful lightning blast. Mr Chen said: "We were on the hillside when we suddenly heard a huge explosion behind us, which made our ears buzz and our arms were numb. No one realised what the explosion was. They only felt an explosion. There was a huge shock wave. We ran down the mountain quickly, and later we realised that what we experienced might have been following a lightning strike."
The incident happened on 5 April on Tomb Sweeping Day, which is is when Chinese people pay homage to their ancestors (AsiaWire)
The tree, which was situated on a steep mountain trail, reportedly split in two when the lightning hit it (AsiaWire)Mr Chen said there was a light drizzle but many tourists still chose to climb the mountain on the day. He described how there was one lightning strike quite close to them, which caused people to panic. Soon after, they heard another loud noise and realised someone may have been struck by lightning.
When they arrived at the foot of the mountain, Mr Chen described how they saw ambulances, police cars and fire engines and they were convinced someone was injured. Police in the Shitoushan District confirmed that the lightning strike did happen and one person was injured.
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The injured woman was rushed to hospital for treatment, but her current condition is unclear. There have been reports she has lost the use of her arms due to paralysis. The incident has also garnered a lot of attention on Douyin, which is the Chinese version of TikTok.
People on the social media site are talking about how the weather is mixed and changeable during the Qingming Festival and so people need to be careful when going out. Some users also called on relevant departments to strengthen the safety management of scenic spots to ensure the safety of tourists.
One user named 'galaxy' said: "Are you out of your mind? Don't go to high places or under trees during thunderstorms. Turn off your mobile phone." Another user '9785471' said: "It's probably the mobile phone that's to blame."
It comes after a terrifying video has captured the moment a bolt of lightning struck an Air Canada Boeing 777 aircraft recently - just seconds after it took off. The flight, from the Vancouver International Airport to London's Heathrow on Sunday, was due to take off at 7.25pm local time and take 10 hours.
But as the plane moved down the runway, took off and reached a few hundred feet in the air, a giant flash illuminated the airport. The plane had been struck by lightning seconds into its flight, and, based on video footage shot by a local student pilot, by a massive bolt, too
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