8 seriously hurt by lightning at German rock festival

Eight people were seriously injured after being struck by lightning at a rock festival in western Germany on Friday night, the festival organiser said.

"The emergency services said that at least 42 festivalgoers were taken to hospitals in the region. Eight of them were seriously injured," said a statement on the website of the Rock am Ring festival, which is held in the town of Mendig, near Koblenz.

The police confirmed the incident but could not give a figure for the number of injured.

Rock am Ring, which began Friday, continues through Sunday despite forecasts for further storms on Saturday.

Last weekend, more than 30 people were taken to hospital in the western German village of Hoppstaedten when lightning struck the pitch at the end of a children's football match.

On the same day, 11 people, most of them children, were injured by lightning in a Paris park after taking shelter under a tree during a storm. 

France, Germany and other parts of western and central Europe have been battered by deadly storms and floods over the past week. At least 17 people have been killed in the flooding, including 11 in southern Germany and four in France.