Four people were injured after a lightning stroke the Acropolis of Athens during a thunderstorm on Wednesday afternoon. The injured have been transferred to Evangelismos hospital in the city center.
The unprecedented incident occurred around 4:30 in the afternoon.
According to preliminary information, the lightning stroke at the ticket counter at the entrance of the Acropolis, damaging the lightning rod and the guards outpost.
At the time of the incident, two female guards were in the outpost and both were injured, one of them reportedly serious.
The other two injured were tourists who got injured by the broke glasses of the ticket counter.
One guard and the tourists are reportedly slightly injured.
State broadcaster ERT TV reported at 6 o’ clock news, that the tourists were discharged from hospital after they received first aid.
The guards, aged 24 and 54, are been been checked for heart problems. There seems to no reason for concern, media report.
According to reports, the tourists are a 22-year-old woman from Finland and a young man from China. The man told Alpha TV that he was hit by broken glasses and stones.
All injured have bruises and small injuries mainly in the hands. However, one of the guards was more seriously injured.
“She came out of the outpost with cables on her hair, she was burned, she was bleeding,” a colleague of the injured told Star TV about the injured colleague. While sitll in hospital, the victim said that she was hit by a shining, adding ” and here I am. I don;t know how I came out of the outpost.” She shows her injuries to the camera.
According to Alpha TV, the lightning stroke the lightning rod, cut the isolation cable and the electric energy stroke two the two guards outposts that are located 50 meters away form each other.
Lightning rod on the Acropolis
The Culture Ministry closed the archaeological site for the rest of the day for security reasons.
No monument has been damaged.
It is not the first time a lightning strikes an archaeological site in Greece. End May 2015, a lightning stroke the site of Knossos on the island of Crete, injuring 7 tourists.
In the last few hours, there are strong weather phenomena striking Athens and the Prefecture of Attica, with thunderstorms, rain and even hail. 700 lightning strokes hit Athens on Tuesday and 100 on Wednesday afternoon.
Greece’s National Meteorological Service issued a warning of dangerous weather phenomena in Athens and Attica.
The General Secretariat for Civil Protection urges citizens to be on alert when they are moving around.
PS question: how can a lightning cause damage when there is a lightning rod?
Answer to the PS: when the lightning rod is not good enough, and cannot cope with the electrical power directed through it. Are you really surprised that a Greek state institution failed to do something properly?!