Four people have been struck by lightning while sheltering from intense storms in Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens.
The injuries suffered by the two men and two women occurred during one of several severe thunderstorms passing over Sydney on Monday afternoon.
The quartet, aged from teens to their 30s, had been sitting under a tree in the gardens when it was hit by lightning about 12.45pm.
All four suffered burn injuries and were taken to hospital in a stable condition, NSW Ambulance said.
Delayed flights, power outages
As the storms passed between 11am and 2pm, about 75,000 lightning strikes were detected within 100km of Sydney by Weatherzone’s Total Lightning Network.
The runway at Sydney Airport had earlier reached a near-standstill as more than 30 departures were cancelled and 340 services in and out were delayed.
Delays at times exceeded an hour for arriving flights.
More than 10,000 households and businesses lost power in the northern suburbs.
Network equipment damage at North Sydney meanwhile cut services from there to Gordon ahead of the afternoon peak.
Passengers were advised to delay their trip.
“Replacement buses have been ordered but are not yet on site,” Transport for NSW said.
Source Agencies
