LAKE WORTH, Fla. – Consecutive bolts of lightning during a South Florida thunderstorm may be responsible for killing a 39-year-old man and critically injuring his father.
Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Teri Barbera said lightning struck an Australian pine tree Tuesday afternoon as Antonio Miranda and his 71-year-old father, Enrique Miranda, were clearing brush near 22nd Avenue North and Pierce Drive in Lake Worth.
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Barbera said the men were cutting branches with a machete and standing near the tree's base when three consecutive bolts of lightning struck. The electricity knocked them off their feet.
Enrique Miranda managed to call 911 and both men were taken to St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach, where Antonio Miranda was pronounced dead.
The medical examiner's office will do an autopsy to determine the official cause of Antonio Miranda's death.
Last month, a landscaper was killed by lightning in Broward County. Lightning also struck and killed a farm worker there in May.