Lightning kills one person and seriously injures one in Pas-de-Calais during football training

Lightning struck a football field during training on Thursday, May 23, in the evening, killing a man in his thirties in Courrières, near Lens (Pas-de-Calais), reported the prefecture and the relief. Another man “suffering from chest pain was transported to the hospital center in a state of absolute emergency” and a third was slightly injured, burned on the leg, according to state services.

The man killed is a coach of the amateur club AS Courrières, according to one of his younger brothers, Théo Denneulin, who rushed to the stadium after being alerted by another member of the club. Thirty-three other people involved in this episode are “shocked, but unharmed”.

Lightning struck “around 8 p.m. at the Gabriel Péri stadium located in Courrières, while football training was in progress”details the prefecture. “It seems that the intense rain (…) caused people to decide to leave the field”reported the firefighters. “Lightning struck at that time and unfortunately impacted the few people who were still there.”

A medical-psychological unit has been set up around the stadium. In June 2019, several teenagers, members of a football club, were struck by lightning during training in Saint-Nicolas-lez-Arras, also in Pas-de-Calais. Since November, Pas-de-Calais has been hit by a series of historic floods, which have left thousands of residents affected.