Rome: At least three people were injured, one of them seriously, when lightning struck a beach packed with holidaymakers on Italy's Adriatic coast on Saturday, news reports said.
The bolt of lightning hit the stretch of beach near Alba Adriatica, in the central Abruzzo region, just after midday, said the reports, which put the number of people injured at between three and seven.
Photos posted on social media showed emergency workers crowded around what appeared to be a woman on a stretcher on the beach.
Italian news agency ANSA said one of the injured had been helicoptered to a nearby hospital.
The civil protection department warned on Saturday of instable weather conditions in central Italy, with scattered thunderstorms and "frequent electrical activity".
