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2 Houston soccer players killed by lightning

Lightning struck the tree three players were using for cover from the storm

Associated Press

HOUSTON — Two soccer players are dead and another is injured after lightning struck a tree that they were standing beneath to shelter from a storm in Houston.

Harris County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Thomas Gilliland says rain halted a men’s league soccer club around noon on Sunday and the players all run for cover under some nearby trees.

Gilliland says lightning struck one of the trees, killing one of the men. Two others were also hit and taken to a Houston hospital, where a second man was pronounced dead.

The third man is in stable condition at Ben Taub General Hospital.

Authorities have not released the names of any of the men.

The Houston area has been drenched by rain the past week, flooding between 50 and 100 homes.