British man dies ‘after being struck by lightning while paddleboarding in Greece’

The Port Authority of Rhodes confirmed the man was 26 and a British national
The unnamed man was in the sea off the beach in Agia Agathi, Rhodes, according to local media (Alamy/PA)
Flora Bowen29 May 2023

An investigation has been launched into the death of a British man amid reports he was struck by lightning while paddleboarding in Greece.

The unnamed man was in the sea off the beach in Agia Agathi, Rhodes, as his girlfriend filmed him from the beach, according to local media.

The Port Authority of Rhodes confirmed to the PA news agency the man was 26 and a British national but would give no further information.

A spokesperson said: “This is an active case so we cannot give more details at the moment.”

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: “We are supporting the family of a British man who has died in Rhodes and are in contact with local authorities.”

Greek newspaper Rodiaki reported lightning struck the water near the man shortly before 1.30pm local time on Tuesday, causing him to fall in the water injured.

The newspaper reported that a passer-by, who it named as a Brazilian footballer who plays for a local side, waded into the water to pull the man back to shore, where medics then took him to a local hospital before he was declared dead.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT