The 24-year-old man killed by a lightning strike at the summit Mount Warning has been revealed as American tourist Sam Beattie, who was travelling Australia with his girlfriend.
Beattie, who arrived in Australia from New York in October with his girlfriend Michele Segalla, had been planning to travel across Australia for a year in a campervan.
Beattie and Segalla pitched their tent atop the summit of Mount Warning, which is just south of the NSW-Queensland border. It is not advised that people approach the summit during a storm, and camping is prohibited on the summit – though it is a popular place to watch the sunrise.
The couple had pitched their tent below a tree on the summit, which was struck by lightning in the early hours of the morning on Tuesday. Beattie was killed instantly due to the fact his feet were resting on the tree, and Segalla suffered minor injuries to her head and neck.
A group of hikers who arrived on the mountain’s summit early in the morning report that they found Segalla crying in her tent next to Beattie’s body.
Tweed-Byron Local Area Commander Wayne Starling said the hikers tried to resuscitate Beattie, but to no avail. He said he passed no judgement on the couple for camping on the summit regardless of the prohibition:
It’s very, very unusual for something like this to happen … so I’m not judgmental of the people in any way whatsoever. These things just happen, sadly it’s a part of life. The weather just had a traumatic effect on many people’s lives. I can’t judge. People do what they do, you know. It’s just a tragedy. Regardless of whether they should be there or not, it’s just a tragedy to lose a life.
Emergency services treated Segalla at the scene for her head and neck injuries. As a helicopter could not land on the summit of Mount Warning, Beattie’s body was retrieved and brought down from the mountain on a stretcher.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald.
Photo: Facebook.
