Deadly Lightning Kills Kids Playing Soccer [J. Mark English]

MONTVALE, N.J. — Two teenagers were recovering Sunday from a lightning strike that killed two other teens a day before on a school soccer field.

Lee Weisbrod, 19, of River Vale, and Steven Fagan, 18, of Woodcliff Lake, died at a local hospital Saturday after suffering severe burns and trauma, authorities said.

The survivors, identified only as 16- and 19-year-old Montvale residents, were treated at a local hospital Saturday night and released, authorities said.

The four had arrived at Montvale Memorial School around 6 p.m. Saturday, but waited for a rain storm to let up before taking the field to play soccer, police said. When a violent storm swept back in, the two unidentified teens ran for shelter while Weisbrod and Fagan began walking off the field.

One of the survivors turned around when he heard thunder and saw Weisbrod and Fagan knocked to the ground by lightning, police said.

Police officers from Montvale and Park Ridge performed CPR and used a defibrillator on the more seriously injured victims before ambulances arrived.