A MAN has died after being struck by lightning during a church camp in the Adelaide Hills on Friday.

The 39-year-old Greenwith man, who has not been named, was fatally injured when he was struck at Cornerstone College just after 2.30pm on Friday, as a storm cell swept over Adelaide and the Mt Lofty Ranges.

A 19-year-old woman – also a member of the Victory Church, at Pooraka, in the northern suburbs – was also injured. She was rushed to Royal Adelaide Hospital with leg injuries.

Her condition was not believed to be life-threatening but a hospital spokesman declined to comment.

It is understood the church group had been at the school on a camp that was due to finish today. Church officials were last night speaking to members of the congregation and the victim’s family.

Churchgoers were receiving counselling. One said “it’s a bit of a rough night — there’s a lot of family and friends that have just found out”.

The college’s oval, where an afternoon of activities was planned, was deserted late on Friday.

A giant tarp used as a slip and slide, children’s pools, water balloons and ropes were strewn across the oval.

It is understood the church camp has been abandoned as police investigate the circumstances. It is not clear if the man died at the scene.

Cornerstone College principal Craig Fielke told The Advertiser the group had been due to finish their four-day camp today. “It is an absolute tragedy – we are trying to support them as best we can and we will do that all next week,” he said. A report is expected to be prepared for the Coroner.

In July 2012, schoolboy Jackson Marsh, 18, died after he was struck by lightning while playing football with his mates at Kensington Oval about 2.30pm.

media_camera A man was struck by a bolt of lightning in the vicinity of Cornerstone College

Originally published as Lightning strike kills man