A SCHOOLBOY is in a critical condition after he and a man were struck by lightning at a school football match reports the BBC.

The boy, 12, and the man, in his 50s, were struck during a district tournament at The Sele School in Hertford on Monday afternoon.

The East of England Ambulance Service said the child was taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge in a critical condition.

The man was taken to Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow for further care.

The head teacher of school, Chris Quach, posted on Facebook on Monday evening to say the lightning strike “affected several people”.

He said the boy who was seriously hurt was from another secondary school.

“The entire staff of The Sele School, the wider school community and I would like to thank the emergency services, the parents and staff who were attending the match and were so helpful, and our first aiders who did an amazing job while waiting for the emergency services to respond,” he said.

“Our good wishes and thoughts are with the people who were injured.” 

A spokesman for the ambulance service said they were called at about 17:15 BST with reports that a child and a man “had been struck by lightning in Welwyn Road, Hertford”. 

“We sent [the] East Anglian Air Ambulance, two ambulance officer vehicles, an ambulance, a BASICS (British Association for Immediate Care) vehicle and a rapid response car,” he said. 

“The child was taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in a critical condition and the man was taken to Princess Alexandra Hospital for further care. Both were conveyed by land ambulance.”