Lightning strike: 1 soldier killed, 9 injured at Georgia’s Fort Gordon

FORT GORDON, Ga. — One soldier died and nine others were injured Wednesday when lightning struck a Georgia military base, authorities reported.

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According to the Fort Gordon Range Control, the lightning strike at the base, located southwest of Augusta, occurred at 11:10 a.m. EDT, The Augusta Chronicle reported. In a news release, officials said that soldiers “sustained injuries associated with a lightning strike” at one of the base’s training areas, according to the newspaper.

One of the soldiers died from their injuries, WJBF-TV reported.

“It is with a heavy heart Fort Gordon confirms one of the soldiers in the lighting strike this afternoon succumbed to their injuries,” Anne Bowman, the fort’s deputy public affairs officer, said in a statement.

Officials at the base said the victim’s name will not be released until next-of-kin have been notified, according to the television station.

Bowman said the fort’s Department of Emergency Services and Emergency Medical Services responded to the scene immediately, WRDW-TV reported.

According to the National Lightning Safety Council, six people have previously died this year from lightning strikes. All six deaths occurred in six different states since June 22, the agency reported.

On June 9, Gregory Shipp, 31, of Brewton, Alabama, died when he was struck by lightning while floating in a raft on Burnt Corn Creek in southern Alabama.

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