A lightning strike at the Fort Bragg army installation in North Carolina injured 16 soldiers during a live-fire training exercise on Wednesday.
Master Sgt. Patrick Malone, a spokesman for the 82nd Airborne Division, said that 60 soldiers had congregated to discuss the day's training when the area was hit by lightning at approximately 8 p.m., according to the Associated Press.
Fifteen soldiers were taken to an army hospital, where they were kept overnight for observation, while another soldier was admitted to a different hospice for cardiac monitoring. Two others were examined and resumed duty shortly after.
As soon as lightning struck, the soldiers, "conducted a lightning-strike drill, where they moved from higher ground down to lower ground and spread out," said Malone.
After accounting for all 60 soldiers on location, the medic started examining soldiers for possible signs or symptoms from the strike, he said.
"The soldiers that were at the range at the time immediately reacted to the lightning strike, and they did what soldiers are trained to do, and that's to check on each other, to ensure that they're OK," Malone said, USA Today reported.
The incident follows a week after Army ranger instructors and students were hospitalized in Florida after they were hit by lightning during training.
