Fan struck by lightning in Ohio: reports

(Reuters) - A spectator apparently was struck by lightning outside a Major League Soccer stadium in Ohio on Saturday with the incident and bad weather causing officials to postpone a match between the Columbus Crew and Dallas. The Crew did not immediately confirm details of the incident, instead releasing a statement the match had been postponed due to the 'extenuating circumstances' of an individual being injured 'during the inclement weather'. The Columbus Dispatch newspaper, however, reported eye-witness accounts of a lightning strike near the stadium about 15 minutes before the scheduled kickoff of 8:00PM ET. One fan said he was taking shelter from the storm in a portable toilet when he felt the strike. "All of a sudden it was just a bomb that went off," Don Lewis told the newspaper. "I knew it was close. The electricity ran through me." Lewis added he heard a bystander make a telephone call to emergency services stating that someone had been struck by lightning before he saw a man lying on the ground outside the toilet. The newspaper said the man was taken to hospital in critical condition. (Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)