A woman suffered cardiac arrest after being startled by a lightning strike in the southern Athens suburb of Ilioupoli on Tuesday.
The incident occurred in the Astynomika area of Ilioupoli as the woman was walking along the street during a severe thunderstorm.
The woman, who is a teacher, was not directly struck by lightning. According to reports, a sudden flash and loud thunderclap frightened her, causing her to lose consciousness before subsequently suffering cardiac arrest. An ambulance was called to the scene. She was taken to Erythros Stavros Hospital, where she was admitted to the intensive care unit.
The storm, which has brought heavy rain and frequent lightning to parts of Attica, also sparked a fire on Mount Hymettus above Ilioupoli. The fire broke out in the Lakiza area on the Koropi side of the mountain near the foothills of Mount Hymettus. Firefighters were dispatched to the scene to contain the blaze.
The wider Attica region was hit by severe weather on Tuesday as a storm front moved across Greece, with stormy weather conditions expected to continue through to Wednesday. According to the latest weather bulletin, periods of heavy rain and localized thunderstorms have been forecast, accompanied by frequent lightning and a possibility of localized hail. The weather system is also expected to bring a drop in temperatures and northerly winds of 6-7 Beaufort in the Aegean and Ionian seas.
