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Louise Thomas
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A teenager was killed instantly after being struck by lightning on a beach in Greece as her parents stood just feet away from her.
Dorothea, 13, was swimming with her parents at Faros beach, near Poseidi in Halkidiki, on Friday.
The family ran out of the sea once it started to rain and collected their belongings to return to their car, according to local Greek reports.
The teenager was walking just 1.5 metres behind her mother when she was hit.
Dorothea’s father, who was a little further away than his wife and daughter, saw them both fall on the sand following the strike.
He told Greek news site Protothema: “The lightning struck both my wife and the child. If they were holding hands, as they were just before, it would have taken both of them.”
He said he immediately tried to give his daughter first aid, and emergency rescuers EKAV were called, but it was too late.
Police said the girl was taken to hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The father, who described his daughter as an excellent student and athlete, added: “My child fell down and didn’t get up again.”
A relative of the family told Greek publication Mega that the incident may have been caused by a metal bead the size of a button that was in the teen’s swimsuit, according to a medical examiner.
The funeral took place on Tuesday morning at the Holy Church of Agios Georgios in New Moudania, Halkidiki.
Dorothea’s body arrived in a white coffin as devastated relatives and classmates gathered at the church to say goodbye to the schoolgirl, who leaves behind two brothers.
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