A teenager was seriously injured in a lightning strike at Central Park on Thursday afternoon, according to police.
The 15-year-old boy was standing next to a tree that was struck when the current from the strike zapped his metal chain, knocking him to the ground around 3:40 p.m. near 101st Street and Fifth Avenue, police and law enforcement sources said.
Storm clouds move in behind One World Trade Center and the Manhattan Skyline in New York City on Thursday, June 19, 2025. John Angelillo/UPI/Shutterstock
Map of where the unidentified teen was struck by lightning. NY Post DesignThe teen was rushed to New York Presbyterian/ Weill Cornell Medical Center, where he was “alert and conscious” and listed in stable condition, the sources said.
They said the teen suffered minor burns.
About 40 million lightning strikes hit the ground in the US every year – but the chances of an individual being struck is less than one in a million, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
More than 90% of those who are struck survive, but 444 Americans were killed by lightning between 2006 and 2021, the agency said.
