A 32-year-old man is in critical condition after he was struck by lightning in Montreal Monday evening.

The man was next to a tree with his bicycle near the intersection of Jeanne-D'Arc Avenue and St-Joseph Boulevard East — across from the Montreal Botanical Garden — when he was struck just before 6 p.m.

Urgences Santé originally reported he was riding his bike, but witnesses confirmed to Radio-Canada that he was standing next to his bike, underneath a tree.

"Our paramedics arrived on the scene to find a 32-year-old male unconscious. [He] took a direct hit from a bolt of lightning," said Bob Lamle, Urgences-Santé spokesman.

Lamle told CBC that witnesses reported seeing the man get hit by the lightning bolt on the side of his head.

He went into cardiac arrest but paramedics were able to revive him.

The man was transported to hospital where he remains critical condition.