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Sunday, July 05, 2009
Bolt Strikes Man, Woman
By Lloyd Jojola
Journal Staff Writer
A man and woman who were attending the fireworks show at Loma Colorado Park in Rio Rancho on Saturday night were struck by lightning and taken to area hospitals.
Their conditions were unknown late Saturday.
Another woman and four children who were nearby also were taken to hospitals. The children were not seriously injured, but were taken for evaluation purposes. The woman, who had complained of leg injuries, was in stable condition.
The incident occurred about 7:15 p.m. Event activities leading up to the 9:30 p.m. July 4 fireworks show were going on as planned when a large thunderstorm moved through the area, and people began going to their cars.
The three adults and four children were walking across an empty parking lot. It is unclear whether they were all part of a family.
"Eyewitnesses reported that a bolt of lightning hit right in the middle of all of them," said Rio Rancho Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Paul Bearce. "We had a male and a female adult that were in presumed cardiac arrest. They were transported immediately... "
Police performed CPR on the two at the site before rescue responders arrived and continued that work, Bearce said.
Rio Rancho police spokesman John Francis said there was a large crowd at the park when the thunderstorm hit. However, the people who were injured were not actually in the park at the time.
"They were in a lower parking lot, just south of the park," Francis said. "It's actually the staff parking lot of the (Rio Rancho) High School."
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