Lightning strikes German football pitch, 35 hurt, 3 seriously

Lightning struck a football pitch in western Germany today, injuring 35 people, three of them seriously, a news agency reported.

The accident - which came as 11 people were hurt in a similar freak strike at a birthday party in a Parisian park - happened at the end of a children's football match in Hoppstaedten, DPA news agency said, citing police.

The referee of the children's match was hit directly by the lightning and was rushed to hospital.