Brecon Beacons fatal lightning strike 'like a movie scene'

A Royal Marines cadet instructor who tried to help save the life of a man who was struck by lightning on the Brecon Beacons said weather conditions had been "pretty intense".

Two men died and two others were being treated in hospital after the incident on Sunday. One has now been discharged.

James Nunn was training in the beacons when the lightning struck and said it was like "something out of a movie".

He and colleagues tried to resuscitate one of the casualties on Corn Du.

It is believed all four men were from England.

Scene of the lightning strikes on Sunday

Mr Nunn told BBC Wales how he was training in the Beacons to raise money for his unit, the Windsor and Eton Sea Cadets, when the weather "turned very bad".

"As we were climbing up we heard the lightning strike the top of the mountain," he said.

"I saw the flash but not the bolt. We kept going to get to the top.

'Conditions were bad'

"We ended up climbing over the top and that's when we saw the colleague of the gentleman. She was attempting to resuscitate him.

"We rushed over and helped out. We carried out resuscitation for around 45 minutes until mountain rescue arrived.

"They worked on him and gave him some adrenalin.

"The conditions were bad. You couldn't see much up there.

"Just heading up the mountain was pretty intense. It was like something out of a movie. It was a peaceful day at the bottom."

James Nunn: 'We carried out resuscitation for around 45 minutes'

Four mountain rescue teams were called to separate incidents at the summits of Corn Du and Cribyn on Sunday.

One person was being treated at Swansea's Morriston Hospital for burns and the other was at Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil.

Dyfed-Powys Police said it was made aware of simultaneous incidents involving separate casualties on the Brecon Beacons.

"As a result of these incidents, two men sadly died. The man that was in a serious condition in hospital has improved and is recovering," a spokesperson said.

"Officers are continuing to liaise with the next of kin of the deceased men and enquiries are ongoing. All four men involved were believed to be from England. HM Coroner has been informed."

Meanwhile, a BBC reporter has told how he was knocked unconscious by lightning while walking nearby 25 years ago.

Julian Fowler, a reporter for BBC Northern Ireland, said he and four friends were knocked out by lightning while climbing Pen y Fan.

He told BBC Radio Wales's Jason Mohammad programme how the weather conditions changed to a hail storm from a "beautiful, sunny, warm day".

"We were very lucky," he said.

"Within a week or two the burns on our legs and our feet recovered."

'It was loud'

Donna Cavanagh and Olivia Howell were walking on the hillside when they posed for a "selfie"

Walkers Donna Cavanagh and friend Olivia Howell were heading to the summit of Pen y Fan when the brief but violent storm struck.

Ms Cavanagh, of Caerphilly, said: "It was said that there was going to be a shower about 11 o'clock, but we didn't expect it be that extreme. But it kind of came and went.

"It was heavy rain and wind and we had two flashes of lighting and two cracks of thunder."

What to do in a thunderstorm?

Ms Cavanagh added: "We were about 20 minutes from the peak then. When we got to the top the visibility was quite poor."

The pair took some "selfies" at the top of Pen y Fan.

"We were soaking," she said. "It was loud, but to be honest, I don't get frightened by thunder and lightning.

"Once we started going back down it cleared up."