Lightning strikes Hamilton school

Teachers who felt ‘shaken and tingly’ assessed by St John

Four teachers have been injured after lightning struck a rugby goalpost at a Hamilton school and jumped into neighbouring classrooms. Waikato police Senior Sergeant Tina Shaw said four adults were hurt when the lightning bolt struck at Hamilton North School.

It appeared that the bolt hit a rugby goalpost before travelling along the ground, connecting with the fence of the school’s tennis court before hitting the classroom and affecting four teachers.

The incident left about a dozen burn marks across the school grounds.

A St John Ambulance spokeswoman said the four injured teachers were left feeling “shaken and tingly” and were taken to Waikato Hospital for precautionary checks.

Hamilton North principal Tony Kane said there was a “massive” lightning strike and a “huge bang at the same time” about 1.30pm just as the children had returned to class after lunch.

Almost simultaneously, smoke detectors went off in all of the school’s rooms.

“And we thought ‘Well gee, there’s something that’s really struck here’. We went off and checked out to make sure everyone was safe, and everyone kept very calm . . . a few staff have complained of having tingling down the sides of their arms and we have called the St John Ambulance and they’ve sent them very quickly.

“It was louder than anything we’ve ever heard before so we knew it was really close. But we hadn’t realised it was that close.

“It struck the goalpost as you can see and affected the rooms although it’s a fair way away. It’s shaken the rooms and it’s done enough to fry the alarm system and the internet in the school.”

Three staff and eight children were in the classroom at the special needs school at the time. A fourth teacher who was in a classroom at the opposite end of the school — about 300m away — was worst affected.

The children were checked by St John staff but not hospitalised.

The lightning strike follows a period of intense rain on Sunday in Hamilton, which saw dozens of residents evacuated when 10 homes flooded and sewage overflowed. Six families whose properties were damaged couldn’t return home last night. They are expected to be able to return today.

The lightning bolt hit the rugby post, singed the ground, hit the fence and travelled along it to neighbouring classrooms. Three of the injured teachers and eight children were in a classroom in the blue building; the fourth injured teacher was in a classroom about 300m away.