Lightning kills 7 in rural South Africa

Nov 27, 2010 |

JOHANNESBURG

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A government official says a lightning strike in a remote area of eastern South Africa has killed seven people attending an end-of-year meeting for nursery schools.

Bonginkosi Meshack Radebe, the provincial welfare minister, said on Saturday that a four-year-old child was among those killed on Friday. The others were adults and included a nursery school principal and teachers who had gathered from across the rural area for the meeting.

Radebe says 40 others were injured. He spoke to the AP as he drove to the scene, a community hall in an impoverished area of KwaZulu-Natal province. He says his department will pay for funerals and provide other assistance.

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