Lightning strike hospitalizes 16 soldiers in North Carolina

FORT BRAGG, NC -- A lightning strike has hospitalized sixteen soldiers on an Army training exercise in North Carolina.

Master Sgt. Patrick Malone, a spokesman for the 82nd Airborne Division, says 60 soldiers were gathered to discuss the day's training when lightning struck nearby around 8 p.m. Wednesday.

Fifteen soldiers were hospitalized overnight for observation at an Army hospital, and a sixteenth was taken to a different hospital for heart monitoring.

Malone said he didn't know whether the injuries were serious. Symptoms can include nausea, dizziness and sore muscles.

Malone says the lightning appears to have struck the ground near the soldiers, and he doesn't know whether anyone was directly hit.