4 hospitalized after lightning strike at elementary school

EL MIRAGE, Ariz. (KPHO/Gray News) — Authorities in Arizona say several adults were injured by a lightning strike at an elementary school bus drop-off Friday morning.

First responders said they were called just after 8:30 a.m. for reports of a lightning strike at El Mirage Elementary School.

Four people, all identified as adults, were conscious and taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, according to the El Mirage Police Department.

El Mirage Fire Captain Joseph Rivera said one woman was holding an umbrella when lightning struck in the vicinity. The woman reported feeling pain in both of her arms.

Capt. Rivera said none of the people were directly struck by the lightning.

Carrie, a librarian at the El Mirage Library across the street, said she was doing her morning duties before the strike.

“The lightning and the thunder were right on top of each other, so loud that it made me jump,” she said. “It felt like the building almost shook.”

Carrie said the strike was followed by a wave of “at least a dozen” car alarms going off across the street.

“It’s wild,” she added. “Then the rain just came down in buckets.”

The strike happened during the first round of storms that began passing through the Phoenix area Friday morning.

Around 8 a.m., fast-moving storms began passing through the area, with viewers reporting hail and heavy rain in Peoria, Sun City and Buckeye.