A man in his 50s died after being struck by lightning in Gunma Prefecture on Monday afternoon.
Police said the man was walking along a path in Oze National Park when lightning struck him just before 4 p.m., Fuji TV reported. He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said a cold air mass moved in over the Kanto region at about 3 p.m., triggering unstable atmospheric conditions. Between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., much of Kanto experienced thunderstorms and hailstorms, with some places recording 30-50 millimeters of rain per hour, the agency said.
© Japan Today
8 Comments
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Thunderbird2
Jeez what are the chances? The poor guy. I feel sorry for his friends and family.
tmarie
RIP. Looks like Kanto area had some strange weather today. Been an odd spring with all the hail, tornadoes, freak thunder and lightening storms...
StanTheMan
Shocking news. Just goes to show how fragile life really is.
telica
Stantheman, was that pun intended? Anyway, yeah pretty freaky.
Guza!
but who takes a stroll in the middle of a hailstorm in a park =/
Apsara
The weather earlier yesterday was perfect, so I'd imagine a lot of hikers were out, and some like this guy probably didn't make it back before the weather changed. He would have been out on a full day hike, he wasn't taking a stroll somewhere like Yoyogi Park.
kitzrow
Unsettling earthquake at 1:30 a.m. today and then the chances of tornadoes or violent storms in the afternoon ... Wow ... Saw a report that Korea got large hailstones ruining an apple field .... Off to school! Good luck, everyone!
Serrano
Divine punishment?