Lightning strike throws woman out of home

A 76-year-old woman suffered serious injuries when she was thrown out of her Isère home by a bolt of lightning.

The violent strike - which occurred at about 7.30pm on Thursday, several hours after an orange weather alert for storms was lifted in the area - also ripped off part of the roof and started a fire at the property in the village of Cognin-les-Gorges, in the southwest of the département.

The victim, who had been on the phone when the bolt struck, was taken to the Michalon hospital, in Grenoble, for treatment. Her condition is not known.