LIGHTNING
© TT
Police suspect that two men in eastern Finland died on Friday, after a lightning strike's electric charge ran through their bodies.

Two men died in the North Karelia municipality of Juuka on Friday, when an electric charge caused by a lightning strike conducted through nearby wet soil to their bodies, Finnish police report.

The Finnish Medical Society Duodecim says lightning strikes kill between one and two people each year in Finland. In much the same way as an electric shock, the effects of a lightning strike can cause burns or seizures. In worst cases, the electric charge created by the natural phenomenon can bring about cardiac arrest or stop a person's breathing.

The shock wave that results from the lightning flash can also damage the ears or throw the victim, breaking bones.

Moisture improves the conductivity of the electric current that creates lightning, so a wet location will cause a more dangerous charge to channel through the body than a dry one.

Duodecim recommends that people who have felt the effects of a lightning strike in their body be brought to treatment immediately. Even if no wounds are visible, the charge may have caused internal bodily damage.