Lightning strikes injure dozens at Rock am Ring festival in Germany

Whoever said lightning never strikes the same place twice has clearly never been to the Rock am Ring music festival. For the second year in a row, the concert in Germany experienced trouble when lightning struck the audience.

More than 50 concert goers were injured of which at least 42 were taken to the nearby hospital after they were hit by strikes of lightning at the festival in Mendig in western Germany. Organisers had earlier warned fans to take shelter after they were informed of an approaching thunderstorm.

"Eight fans have been hospitalised for injuries sustained in a thunderstorm," Rock am Ring organisers tweeted late Friday. At least one individual had to be resuscitated by paramedics while many others suffered burns.

Live performances were put on hold as local ambulances and fire brigades rushed to the venue. Lighting hit at around 8.30pm local time according to the police but the show was back on track by 9.45pm.

Deutsche Welle reported that around 45,000 people were attending the concert this year.

According to German media, in 2016, a similar incident occurred at the festival and 33 people were injured in lightning strikes.

Parts of Europe have been experiencing severe weather with numerous cases of flooding. In areas of south Germany, storms have already destroyed homes, upturned vehicles and left entire towns deluged.

In France, parts of Paris had to be evacuated as the River Siene has overflown its banks. The Louvre has taken measures to protect its valuable artworks.

On 3 June, French President Francois Hollande declared the Paris floods as a national disaster and said that "more decisions" needed to be made to tackle the effects of "exceptional" flooding across France.

Belgium and Romania have reported deaths due to the storm.