lightning
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A 47-year-old man died in Bulgaria's capital city Sofia on the evening of June 17 after being struck by lightning, emergency services confirmed.

The man was walking his dog in Sofia's Lyulin 6 residential area when the incident happened. The dog also died.

Emergency medical services spokesperson Katya Sungarska told Bulgarian National Television that a call had been received at 8.17pm about the incident, and an ambulance had reached the man within eight minutes.

He was transported as swiftly as possible to Pirogov emergency hospital, but his condition was very severe and he died as the ambulance reached Pirogov, in spite of efforts en route to resuscitate him.

Sungarska said that this was the second such incident in two days. On Sunday, a 13-year-old man who was fishing on the Iskar Reservoir died instantly when he was struck by lightning. The reservoir is in Sofia district, more than an hour's drive from the centre of the city.

June 2019 has seen a succession of thunderstorms in Sofia and elsewhere in Bulgaria. Weather forecasts on June 18 said that occasional thunderstorms were to continue in western Bulgaria for the next two days.