Rescuers in Warren County removed the last of four hikers injured tonight when lightning struck nearby during a severe thunderstorm in Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.

Three had been removed from the Appalachian Trail in Worthington State Forest by 7:30 p.m.; a fourth hiker with a head wound also was taken off the mountain, said Deb Nordeen, a public information officer with the National Park Service.

Rescuers reached the group at 6:15 p.m., about an hour after the National Park Service's emergency communications center received a report of the lightning strike. The four injured were among a larger group of nine people from the Lansdale, Pa., area who had been hiking the trail, Nordeen said.

Nordeen said she was uncertain of the extent of the injuries or the ages of those involved. Two men and two women were hurt.

They were about a mile south of Sunfish Pond in Hardwick Township, which is about two to three miles from the Pennsylvania line.All were conscious when rescuers reached the group, Nordeen said.

Initially, two of the hikers were unable to speak but became mobile and communicative by the time they left the mountain, she said

Rescuers used a Gator -- an ATV with a utility bed -- to remove three of the victims; the fourth was carried out with a Stokes basket, Nordeen said. All were taken to Pocono Medical Center. A nursing supervisor tonight said she couldn't release any patient information.

The lightning strike came during a severe storm that hammered parts of Northampton, Monroe and Warren counties for the second straight day. The storm brought down tree limbs and wires across much of the region.