Florida School Student Injured, Another Missing After Lightning Strikes Lake

One school student was injured and another missing after lightning struck a rowing complex at Lake Fairview in Orlando, Florida, the fire department said.

A rowing team of five people was practicing on the water at the North Orlando Rowing complex at around 6 p.m Thursday when their boat capsized, according to the Orlando Fire Department. There was a lightning strike in the area where the team was practicing.

"Preliminary reports indicate lightning struck the area," the department said.

The injured person was immediately transported to a nearby hospital, while a dive team continued to search for the missing person, who was described as middle school-aged.

Executive deputy Chief Ian David with the Orlando Police Department told reporters the team was using additional technology for assistance in locating the missing person, Wesh reported.

"We're currently using our search patterns. We've identified where we believe the boat capsized and we're searching," he said. "We're going to be using additional technology from our partners in the area that can assist us to see if we can locate our missing child."

The team of five rowers belonged to the nonprofit group North Orlando Rowing Club.

"We believe the students were from various schools in Central Florida," the department further noted.

The remaining three students who were on the boat were taken home safely by their parents. No other information about the identities of the rowers has been given by the authorities at this time.

Multiple units of the Orlando Police Department and Orlando Fire Department, along with ambulance and divers, were present at the scene.

Florida is known as the lightning strike capital of the United States, based on strikes per square kilometer. According to the National Weather Service, the state witnesses an average of 10 people killed by lightning every year, the highest in any state in the country.

On Aug. 17, a woman in Florida was killed by lightning that also struck her child. Authorities provided "immediate lifesaving aid" to the mother and child, and both were hospitalized. The police responded to multiple reports of people getting hit by lightning near a local park. In another incident in August, an Alabama teenager survived after she was hit by lightning in the chest on her first day of college. She was left with serious burns.