3 tourists killed by lightning on Argentina beach

Three tourists were killed by lightning and 22 others injured after a storm battered a seaside town in Argentina, officials said Thursday. Most people on the beach in Villa Gesell, in Buenos Aires province, had already left by the time the storm erupted, local officials said. The fatalities, aged 17, 19 and 21, and those injured had been seeking shelter under awnings when the storm erupted. After the lightning struck, several victims were ferried away from the scene on sun loungers. One witness described seeing a "fireball" and hearing a "terrible noise" when the bolt hit. The vendor at a nearby spa, Osvaldo Garcia, told local television he saw the people who manage the beach awnings fly three or four meters (10-13 feet) and a man "burned to death while traveling in a quad" vehicle. The injured included six children and 16 adults. Two women were seriously injured and were hospitalized in critical condition. Many of the injured were treated in hospital for burns. Villa Gesell is situated on the Atlantic coast, roughly 400 kilometers (249 miles) from Buenos Aires.