4 treated after lightning hits nearby

HARDWICK TOWNSHIP, N.J. - Four hikers were taken to an area hospital after a close encounter with lightning along the Appalachian Trail in northwestern New Jersey.

National Park Service spokeswoman Deb Nordeen said the hikers were with five other people in Worthington State Forest when lightning struck the ground near them about 5 p.m. Sunday.

The forest is next to the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, and Nordeen said the National Park Service and state forest rangers transported the patients out of the woods to waiting ambulances.

Nordeen said the patients were two males and two females. One person had a bleeding head injury. All four patients were taken to Pocono Medical Center in East Stroudsburg.