Lightning strikes German football pitch, 35 injured, 3 seriously – report

Lightning struck a football pitch in western Germany on Saturday, injuring 35 people, three of them seriously, news agency DPA reported. 

The accident — which came as 11 people were hurt in a similar freak strike at a birthday party in a Parisian park — happened at the end of a children’s football match in Hoppstaedten, DPA said, citing police. 

The referee of the children’s match was hit directly by the lightning and was rushed to hospital.