SALINA, Okla. – A girl has died days after she and three friends were struck by lightning in northeastern Oklahoma.
The four girls were swimming at the popular Blue Hole Park about 10:45 a.m. Saturday when the bolt hit.
Officials with the Grand River Dam Authority Police Department said two of the girls were taken to Tulsa Hospital by ambulance, and the other two were taken to Pryor Hospital in personal vehicles.
This week, three of the girls were released. One succumbed to her injuries, according to police.
Her death is the ninth confirmed lightning fatality of the year in the U.S. and the first this year in Oklahoma, according to John Jensenius, lightning safety specialist at the National Lightning Safety Council.
He added that the U.S. averages 16 lightning fatalities through Aug. 10, based on the past 10 years.
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At the time the lightning struck the girls, scattered thunderstorms were moving across Oklahoma with lightning, small hail and gusty winds.