A 12-year-old Virginia boy is dead after he and his friend were struck by lightning while playing catch on a baseball field Wednesday night, MyFOXDC.com reported.
The Little League umpire called the game around 6:30 p.m. and ordered everyone off the field in Fredericksburg, Va., because of dark clouds, rain, hail and lightning.
But, Chelal Gross-Matos and his unidentified 11-year-old friend lingered on the field playing catch, the station reported.
"Their parents were close by. Their children were being supervised by their parents and they were just kind of playing catch with one another when they were struck," said First Sergeant Liz Scott, a spokeswoman with the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Department.
The lightning seemed to strike Gross-Matos first, singing his hair and burning him all over before jumping to his friend, MyFOXDC.com reported. Both kids were knocked unconscious.
"People were yelling, two boys were struck by lightning!" Richard Atchley, a witness, told the station. "I saw one of the boys laying here, his eyes were rolled back. You could see the whites of his eye."
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