Benedicte Myrset and Victoria Myrset Norwegian sisters, aged 18 & 12 killed by lighting bolt while hiking along Hareid mountain area. 3rd sister also struck survives.
A lightning bolt has killed two sisters and injured a third sibling as the three teen girls were hiking on a mountain in Norway.
Benedicte Myrset, 18, and 12-year-old Victoria Myrset from Oslo, were struck by lightning in the mountainous area of Hareid on Sunday according to Norway’s Sunnmorsposten.
They were on the Melshorn mountain, a popular destination, when the accident happened.
Officials in Hareid said a third girl, a sister of the two other girls was injured and taken to a nearby hospital. The sibling’s identity was not revealed.
The injured girl was transferred to a larger hospital in Bergen, Norway’s second largest city. Come Monday, the sibling was discharged from hospital according to Norway’s Dagbladet.
Unanticipated change of weather
In a statement, Hareid mayor Bernt Brandal called it ‘a deeply tragic event’ that no one could have predicted because the weather ‘changed tremendously fast’.
Norwegian broadcaster NRK said more than 800 lightning strikes were recorded in the area Sunday afternoon and early evening.
Sunday’s freak accident took place near the top of the popular hiking destination Melshornet, which towers 668 meters above sea level according to local media.
