Three people were injured in lightning strikes as thunderstorms moved through the Chicago area overnight.
A woman in her 40s was seriously injured around 10:30 p.m. at Monroe Street and Lake Shore Drive near Maggie Daley Park, when storms moved through as the Navy Pier fireworks show ended.
The woman was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where her condition was stabilized, according to the Fire Department.
Emergency responders got a similar call in far southwest suburban Sheridan.
Witnesses saw people rushing to help a man and a girl who appeared to be younger than 5 years old. Both had been struck by lightning before the village’s fireworks show, while standing near or under a tree at Robertson Field.
“We are 50 feet away, and we could feel the jolt. It knocked the Cheetos off my lap; and my buddy runs the barbecue stand over there, the pops burst open, some of them,” witness Brianna Hoopes said. “It was seriously one of the loudest thunderclaps I’ve ever heard in my life, and I knew something was wrong. I seen two people running, and I could see the group of people already getting together, and it was really good to see a community just act so fast. It was scary. It could have been anybody.”
One of the two victims reportedly was not breathing, and was given CPR. The victims’ conditions were not immediately available.
AS REPORTED BY CBS CHICAGO NEWS