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| Two people dead after Brecon Beacons lightning strikes | Two people dead after Brecon Beacons lightning strikes |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Two people are dead, and two others are in hospital, following separate lightning strikes in the Brecon Beacons in Powys. | Two people are dead, and two others are in hospital, following separate lightning strikes in the Brecon Beacons in Powys. |
| Emergency services were called to areas around Pen y Fan in the national park at midday on Sunday. | Emergency services were called to areas around Pen y Fan in the national park at midday on Sunday. |
| Two individuals were airlifted to hospital in Merthyr Tydfil with what were described initially as life-threatening injuries. | |
| Two others are also being treated - one at a specialist burns unit in Swansea. | Two others are also being treated - one at a specialist burns unit in Swansea. |
| A spokesman for Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr confirmed on Sunday evening that two of those taken to the hospital had died. | |
| Another individual remains at the hospital, while a fourth person has been transferred to Morriston Hospital in Swansea with burns injuries. | |
| It is understood that the pair taken from the 2,600ft (800m) Cribyn peak in the Beacons included a man in his 50s. | It is understood that the pair taken from the 2,600ft (800m) Cribyn peak in the Beacons included a man in his 50s. |
| Another of those injured was on Corn Du, south-west of Pen y Fan. | Another of those injured was on Corn Du, south-west of Pen y Fan. |
| 'Very, very rare' | |
| Mark Jones, from Brecon Mountain Rescue, was on exercise in the area when the thunder storm hit and they went to assist casualties on Corn Du. | |
| "I've been in Brecon Mountain Rescue for 30 years and I've never known anything like this," he said. | |
| "It is exceptionally unusual, and for multiple people to be hit in multiple strikes on different peaks - it is very, very rare." | |
| His team had been in a valley area below Pen y Fan at the time. | |
| "It was very, very loud," he said. | |
| "We decided to end the exercise - and then the call came in about the lightning strikes." | |
| He said because they were already on the hills, they were able to reach one of the casualties on Corn Du within about 25 minutes. | |
| An RAF Sea King from Chivenor was sent to aid two casualties on Cribyn. | |
| A doctor from the Brecon rescue team then accompanied the two from Cribyn as they were evacuated to hospital by air. | |
| Three other mountain rescue teams - Longtown, Central Beacons and Western Beacons - were also called out. |