A 50-YEAR-OLD woman was struck by lightning when cooking at home in Bao’an District on Saturday. The woman’s four limbs had extensive burns. She is now in stable condition and under treatment at Bao’an District People’s Hospital, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported yesterday.

The injured woman’s daughter, surnamed Zeng, said that at around 4:30 p.m., Saturday, she saw lightning flash towards their kitchen and felt a vibration in the apartment. A strong heatwave quickly followed, causing a detachment of the house door and it flying towards the neighbor.

Zeng then rushed to the kitchen, and found her mom on the ground with scattered window glass on the floor. “Her exposed four limbs and face were burnt, luckily she was conscious,” Zeng said. Zeng’s mother was later taken to the Bao’an District People’s Hospital.

Huang Zhibin, a doctor from the Plastic and Burn Surgery Department of the hospital, said that the patient was, in fact, burnt by fire, and almost 40 percent of the patient’s limbs and face have second to third-degree burn injuries.

Deng Jingcheng, another doctor of the department, infers that the woman’s injuries might be caused by a fireball forming, for an unknown reason, by the lightning.

Currently, the patient is recovering well. However, close observation has to be given to the patient since the lightning strike might have a delayed aftereffect.

(Chen Siqi)