Up to 80 people seriously hurt by lightning at German rock festival

Up to eighty people were seriously injured after lightning struck at a rock festival in western Germany on Friday night, the festival organiser said.

The three-day Rock am Ring festival, which is held in the town of Mendig, near Koblenz, has since been cancelled at the end of its second day, according to a post on the festival Facebook page.

The post said organisers would heed weather warnings and cancel the final day of the festival to ensure the safety of fans.

The police confirmed the incident but could not give a figure for the number of injured.

Last weekend, more than 30 people were taken to hospital in the western German village of Hoppstaedten when lightning struck the pitch at the end of a children's football match.

On the same day, 11 people, most of them children, were injured by lightning in a Paris park after taking shelter under a tree during a storm.

France, Germany and other parts of western and central Europe have been battered by deadly storms and floods over the past week. At least 17 people have been killed in the flooding, including 11 in southern Germany and four in France.