Bodies of 3 Killed by Lightning Found at Campsite in N.Y.
An amusement park security guard Tuesday discovered the blistered bodies of three young men killed by a lightning bolt that struck their pup tents at a camping site.
State police said the lightning was so powerful that it melted the main tent pole in one of the two pup tents and burned a two-foot path through the ground, depositing stones and grass onto the trunk of a nearby car.
The Erie County medical examiner determined that the men had been electrocuted.
The victims were found shortly before 3 a.m. by a Darien Lake Fun Country park security guard who was checking on the victims’ campsite permit, park general manager James Bouy said.
The three, tentatively identified as Andrew Lather, 18, Kelly Hilts, 20, and Jeffrey Smith, 17, all of Vernon, N.Y., had apparently been dead since early Sunday, state police Sgt. Patrick O’Reilly said.
They had been camping in a remote section of the park.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
