Lightning strikes fisherman, 2 others also injured
A fisherman was struck by lightning over the weekend.
The Cass County Sheriff's Office says three people were on a boat on Baby Lake in Hackensack when lightning struck, hitting 48-year-old Wei Wei, of Iowa.
He was taken to a Twin Cities hospital. Max Wei, 18, and a juvenile male were evaluated at a hospital in Brainerd, the sheriff's office says.
The incident happened Sunday at 10:38 a.m.
There were isolated thunderstorms in the Brainerd Lakes area Sunday morning, according to the National Weather Service.
Lightning strikes in the United States about 25 million times a year, killing an average of 49 people a year and severely injuring hundreds, the weather service says. From 2005-2014, five people in Minnesota were killed by lightning strikes.
Males make up 79 percent of all lightning fatalities nationwide, with 90 percent of the deaths coming while fishing or playing sports, the agency notes.
The National Weather Service has tips to stay safe when lightning strikes, including moving indoors when you hear thunder and "immediately" get away from lakes and other bodies of water.
