A lightning strike which hit a village school on Wednesday afternoon in southwest China killed seven students and injured 30. The children were having class when the bolt hit the school in? Xingye Village, Kaixian County of Chongqing Municipality, said officials.

The injured students were spread over two classrooms, with four of them in critical condition, the sources revealed, adding that all the injured were in hospital. Additionally, the death toll becomes grimmer since all the seven pupils killed were between 10 and 14 years of age.

The county, located in a mountainous area, has a history of tragedy. In December 2003, a huge gas explosion at a natural gas field in Kaixian county killed 233 people.

(Xinhua News Agency May 24, 2007)