Lightning struck during a nighttime trail race up a Greek mountain, killing one runner and seriously injuring another, Greek police and the fire service reported.
The two men were running in the Six Peaks race, which passes through the six highest peaks of Mount Falakro in northern Greece, when lightning struck a group of runners at 4am on Sunday (local time) at an altitude of 1340m, a police officer told The Associated Press.
Two fire service rescue squads came up the mountain from the nearby town of Drama to find one runner, 55, already dead and another, 56, seriously injured. The injured runner was airlifted to a hospital in the city of Kavala, where authorities said he was in serious condition. Neither was identified.
The 35.7km race had started at 7pm on Saturday (local time) in the village of Pyrgoi, 630m up the slopes of the 2232m mountain. Falakro's six highest peaks in Greece are all over 2000m high; the mountain extends into Bulgaria.
The weather was good when the race started but during the night heavy rain developed and the trail became muddy. By the time the lightning struck, several of the 55 runners taking part had reached the finish line at a mountain hut on top of the Falakro Ski Resort. Runners had 12 hours to complete the race.
The race is one of five, and the second shortest, organised since 2018 by the Nevrokopi Hiking and Mountaineering Club, located in the nearby town of Kato Nevrokopi under the collective name Frozen Peaks. The three longest races - 269, 103 and 46 kilometres - have been certified by the Switzerland-based International Trail Running Association.
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