BOSTON (WHDH) - State police were called to Savin Hill Beach in Boston on Saturday after a woman who was walking her dog was critically injured in a lightning strike, officials said.
Troopers from the State Police-South Boston Barracks responded to the beach at 3:35 p.m. and found the woman, a 31-year-old Dorchester resident, seriously injured. She was taken to Boston Medical Center, where she remains in critical condition.
The woman was walking her dog, Bruce, along the boardwalk at the beach when she stopped to speak to another walker, a 49-year-old woman. While they were speaking, a lightning bolt struck the area where they were standing, throwing both women into the air, state police said.
The 31-year-old woman was thrown onto the beach and was unresponsive. Witnesses called 911 and began performing CPR.
The 49-year-old was thrown in a different direction by the force of the blast but is not believed to have been struck by the actual lightning. That woman indicated that she would make her own arrangements for medical evaluation.
Witnesses say bystanders rushed to the woman’s aid, brought her to a nearby house, and desperately rendered aid until paramedics arrived.
“It was like a nuclear bomb …The sound was like unlike anything I’ve ever heard,” a witness recalled of the sound of the lightning strike.
State police are now asking for help finding the woman’s dog, Bruce, who ran off after the incident and hasn’t been found.
Anyone who sees him is asked to contact the State Police-South Boston Barracks at 617-740-7710, or simply call 911.
No additional information was immediately available.
This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.
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