Ten people were hit by lightning, and at least one needed CPR, as a thunderstorm spread danger from Catalina Island to the shores of Santa Monica Bay.
Witnesses said the Coast Guard was helping search the popular beach, as at least one person in the water had been injured. And photos of a stricken diver being worked on by paramedics on the beach surfaced on social media.
City fire paramedics set up a triage and treatment center on the crowded beach near Washington Boulevard, and one patient was rushed to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
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Eight people were hurt on the beach, and a ninth was offshore. That person was rescued by a county Baywatch rescue boat, with paramedics onboard.
The tenth victim was a 57-year-old man struck by lightning on a golf course at Avalon, on Santa Catalina Island.
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--City News Service
Patch file photo
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