A lightning strike in Norway has killed more than 300 reindeer, according to reports from local media. A spokesman for the Norwegian Nature Inspectorate (NNI) told NTB, the Norwegian News Agency, that 323 reindeer were found dead on Friday in an area near Hardangervidda, in the southern part of the country. In a press release published Sunday, the Norwegian Environment Agency said that 70 of the dead reindeer were calves. Officials believe that the animals were killed by lightning during a heavy thunderstorm, marking what could be the deadliest lightning strike in history.
“We’ve heard about animals being struck by lightning and killed, but I don’t remember hearing about lightning killing animals on this scale before,” NNI spokesman Knut Nylend tells NTB. “We don’t know if it was one or more lighting strike; that would only be speculation.”
