Nearly two dozen Boy Scouts were hospitalized in New Hampshire Monday night after a lightning strike left them with a "tingling sensation."
Fire officials said 23 scouts and three adults were at the Griswold Scout Reservation in Belmont, N.H., when the lightning struck.
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"At some point in time the lightning either struck nearby or struck the shelter they were under or a tree or something and traveled through into the meadow,"
Belmont Fire Chief David Parenti told NBC affiliate WHDH.
No one was directly hit, but all of the scouts and adults were taken to Lakes Region Hospital and Concord Hospital as a precaution after reportedly feeling a tingling sensation.
Some of the injuries were minor burns, Parenti said, and six of the scouts required cardiac monitors.
The Boy Scouts of America released a statement about the incident.
"This staff of Camp Bell at Griswold Scout Reservation was monitoring a fast moving storm," the statement read. "As the storm approached camp, the staff directed the campers to shelter. A lightning strike hit near the shelter. Approximately 30 minutes later, several of the campers were complaining of after affects and as a preliminary caution the campers were sent to various medical facilities in the area for treatment and evaluation."
The scouts, all between the ages of 12 and 17, had been attending leadership training at Griswold.
The Boy Scouts of America has been at the center of controversy recently for failing to eliminate its
policy that prohibits homosexual troop leaders even though the organization lifted its ban on gay scouts in April.
Caterpillar Inc. announced last week it will
no longer give money to support the Boy Scouts because of its discriminatory practices.
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