Lightning struck Sunday, killing five hikers and injuring six others at two mountains on the northern outskirts of Seoul, police said.
Four hikers, including a 57-year-old Ahn, were killed and four others, including a 45-year-old Choi, injured on Mt. Bukhan and one was killed and two others injured on Mt. Surak near noon, police said.
Lightning hit a large rock near the Yonghyeol Peak on the Mt. Bukhan's Uisang ridge, where some 30 climbers were resting, at 11:55 a.m., a police officer said.
"The victims seemed to have been shocked by high-voltage electricity which flowed from the thunderstorm along cracks of the rock soaked with rain water," the officer said, adding that the police are investigating exact causes of the accident.
Victims of the storm were airlifted to nearby hospitals in four helicopters by rescue forces, he said.
Another lightning storm hit Mt. Surak at 11:50, killing a 48-year-old woman only identified as her family name of Im and injuring two others, including a 64-year-old man with family name of Oh who is one of Im's collegues, police said.
"Lightning hit while I was climbing down," said Oh, who was struck and brought to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Meanwhile, the Mt. Bukhan National Park Authorities banned climbers from hiking the mountain from 1 p.m.
Medical doctors said that all the injured have got recovered their consciousness and are able to talk but a few have been suffering from severe injury, needing further examination.
"I fell to lose my mind upon hearing 'zee-ing' along with lightning at the site one to two meters down from the Yonghyol peak, as I was hurriedly coming down to avoid showering," said Kim Bong-tae, 46, a member of a climbing club, Collared Dove.
"Several hikers at similar location also collapsed. Three to four climbers on the top of the Yonghyeol Peak seemed to be directly struck by lightning storm," Kim said.
"The accident took place in a flash due to lightning storm when I was coming down
from the Yonghyeol Peak along with some 10 other collegues in a line," said a 36-year-old
Shin, a member of the club.
"I fell from the rock with my mind lost after being shocked upon hearing "zeeing,' while climbing up to the peak with my hand on the iron rope lined on the rock
Thirty to forty climbers were at the Yonghyeol Peak and nearby rocks, according to the
injured and eyewitnesses.
"When we arrived at the scene, some hikers fell to the ground, groaning with blisters on
their feet and legs," said a member of the rescuers group.
About 10 members of the climbing club, Collared Dove, fell victims to the lightning during their hiking to Mt. Bukhan, to commemorate their member who was missing during
the descent from K2 Peak of the Himalayas in 2001.
In particular, lightning seemed to have flowed through rain water to reach climbers' belongings containing iron or steel to shock the victims, they said.
Shin and Kim, who belong to the same climbing club, Collared Dove, possessed steel-made
sticks, wearing safety belts with D-shape rings and a analgue wrist watch telling time
with two hands as they intended to walk the fortress built along the ridges around Mt. Bukhan.
Police and state rescue authorities are investigating exact causes of the incident, believing that some climbers were shocked by high voltage electricity to death or injured on top of the peak and nearby spots.