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Lightning Strike Injures Seven at Toluca Religious Festival

Municipal emergency teams are monitoring storm damage to prevent further harm after the strike disrupted an outdoor patronal celebration.

Overview

  • A lightning bolt struck near the Cristo de la Montaña church in Santiago Tlacotepec, Toluca, during a patronal festival, leaving seven people injured on Sunday.
  • Police, SUEM paramedics, firefighters and Protección Civil responded at the scene to triage victims and secure the area.
  • Three people with first- and second-degree burns were taken to hospitals, with two admitted to IMSS Clínica 220 and a pregnant woman sent to Hospital Mónica Pretellini.
  • A social-media video shows residents carrying injured attendees down the hill on an improvised tarp stretcher while a minor was evaluated on site and not hospitalized.
  • Toluca authorities are monitoring multiple locations after heavy rains, reporting torn tree branches and traces of combustion and warning that seasonal afternoon storms raise lightning risk for outdoor events.