Fans injured by lightning strike at Rock Am Ring

At least 42 people were taken to hospital on Friday night after lightning struck Germany’s Rock Am Ring festival.

Eight music fans are said to have suffered serious injuries.

It’s the second straight year that lightning has caused injuries to music fans at the event, which is held near Mendig in the country. In 2015, 33 people were hurt when lightning hit the festival site twice.

The official festival website reports that police, firefighters and the Red Cross were in attendance, and one person had to be resuscitated.

Rock Am Ring have set up an information hotline for those worried about loved ones and relatives on 0261 1032345.

Bands including Of Mice & Men, Tenacious D, Amon Amarth, Breaking Benjamin, Disturbed, Puscifer, Volbeat, Tesseract, Issues and Panic! At The Disco were on the Friday bill, which was resumed after the thunderstorm had passed.

More lightning is forecast on Saturday and Sunday near the festival site, according to Rock Am Ring’s Facebook page.

Scott has spent 37 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, highlights deals, and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 12 years, Scott has written more than 11,500 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from news and features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.