Lightning strike hospitalises 13 Australian schoolchildren

BRISBANE: Thirteen primary school students and two teachers were taken to hospital after lightning struck a school sportsfield on Australia's east coast on Tuesday.

The children, aged between 10 and 12 years old, were playing on the field at their school in Queensland when the bolt struck nearby, a spokesman for the local ambulance service said.

The group was treated for numbness in their legs and "mild tingling", with one teacher complaining of chest pains, Greg Christensen told AFP.

"It is believed lightning came down between two trees on the oval where the kids were playing," he said.

The kids "were pretty wound up" after the incident but there were no signs of physical injury, he added.

"It could have turned out very differently... with burns and other injuries, but lucky we had none of that there today."

The group was taken to hospital for observation.