Four die, more than 100 hurt in thunderstorm in Poland's Tatra mountains

Firefighters carry a stretcher behind a helicopter during a rescue operation after a thunderstorm in the Tatra Mountains, in Zakopane, Poland August 22, 2019. Picture taken August 22, 2019. Agencja Gazeta/Marek Podmokly via REUTERS

WARSAW (Reuters) - Four people, two of them children, died and more than 100 were injured during a thunderstorm in Poland's Tatra mountains on Thursday, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said.

A fifth person was killed by the storm in the West Tatras in neighbouring Slovakia, mountain rescue services reported.

Lightning hit a group of tourists on Giewont, a 1,894-metre mountain in Poland, after a sunny morning turned stormy, according to witnesses quoted on private broadcaster TVN24.

A firefighter carries a victim to a tent during a rescue operation after a thunderstorm in the Tatra Mountains, in Zakopane, Poland August 22, 2019. Picture taken August 22, 2019. Agencja Gazeta/Marek Podmokly via REUTERS

Tourists climbing Giewont often aim to end their trip at the summit, where a 15-metre iron cross was installed in 1901. The cross is believed to attract lightning.

"Nobody expected such a sudden storm to break out and from our human point of view it was something which was impossible to predict," said Morawiecki after a meeting of an emergency council in the southern town of Zakopane.

The mayor of Zakopane, Leszek Dorula, declared Friday a day of mourning, Polish news agency PAP reported.

Firefighters are seen by the tent during a rescue operation after a thunderstorm in the Tatra Mountains, in Zakopane, Poland August 22, 2019. Picture taken August 22, 2019. Agencja Gazeta/Marek Podmokly via REUTERS

Other victims were hurt in different parts of the Tatra range, which spreads over 57 kilometres in southern Poland.

Joanna Sieradzka, spokesman for the Krakow Ambulance Service, said on TVN24 that five helicopters had been involved in the rescue effort.

More than two dozen rescuers were trying to save two cavers trapped in the Tatra mountains after a tunnel flooded and blocked their exit. [nL5N25E0CJ]

Emergency responders transport a victim in a TOPR (Tatra Volunteer Search and Rescue) helicopter during a rescue operation after a thunderstorm in the Tatra Mountains, in Zakopane, Poland August 22, 2019. Picture taken August 22, 2019. Agencja Gazeta/Marek Podmokly via REUTERS

In the West Tatras on the Polish-Slovak border, a man was killed when lightning knocked him into a gorge, the Slovak Mountain Rescue Service said. His companion, a Czech woman, was injured. A Slovak man was hurt in a separate incident.

Medical staff transport the victims of a thunderstorm in the Tatra Mountains during a rescue operation in Zakopane, Poland August 22, 2019. Picture taken August 22, 2019. Agencja Gazeta/Marek Podmokly via REUTERS

(Reporting by Marcin Goclowski, Pawel Florkiewicz and Alan Charlish; additional reporting by Alicja Ptak and Jan Lopatka; editing by Gareth Jones)

Police officers and medical staff carry a stretcher to an ambulance during a rescue operation after a thunderstorm in the Tatra Mountains, in Zakopane, Poland August 22, 2019. Picture taken August 22, 2019. Agencja Gazeta/Marek Podmokly via REUTERS

A TOPR (Tatra Volunteer Search and Rescue) helicopter and an ambulance are seen as rescuers conduct a rescue operation after a thunderstorm in the Tatra Mountains, in Zakopane, Poland August 22, 2019. Agencja Gazeta/Marek Podmokly via REUTERS

An HEMS Polish Medical Air Rescue (LPR) helicopter takes part in a rescue operation after a thunderstorm in the Tatra Mountains, in Zakopane, Poland August 22, 2019. Agencja Gazeta/Marek Podmokly via REUTERS

A TOPR (Tatra Volunteer Search and Rescue) helicopter takes part in a rescue operation after a thunderstorm in the Tatra Mountains, in Zakopane, Poland August 22, 2019. Agencja Gazeta/Marek Podmokly via REUTERS