Fifteen taken to hospital after lunchtime lightning strike on school oval

Thirteen children and two teachers have been taken to hospital with “tingling symptoms” after lightning struck a school on the central Queensland coast.

Emergency services were called to Clinton State School in Gladstone about 1.30pm on Tuesday after reports of the lightning strike near the school oval.

The group had been outside during lunch under dark skies and “some rumbling”, an Education Department spokesman said.

Teachers were in the process of moving the students off the oval when the lightning struck.

Paramedics assessed 16 patients at the scene. Fifteen people were then transported to Gladstone Hospital in stable condition, a Queensland Ambulance Service spokeswoman said.