Two young hikers were hospitalised after lightning struck their group during a storm in the Hautes-Pyrénées on Monday afternoon. A 14-year-old boy suffered a cardiac arrest and a 21-year-old man was also hit when the bolt struck near the Bayssellance refuge, close to the Cirque de Gavarnie, as the pair hiked along the GR10 trail near Cauterets.
The group of roughly 15 people was caught in the storm around 15:30 local time. By Tuesday midday, both victims were conscious and in stable condition, the Tarbes prosecutor's office said.
An investigation has been opened by the Tarbes prosecutor and assigned to the Pierrefitte-Nestalas high-mountain gendarmerie unit to determine the circumstances of the incident.