Two Women Struck By Lightning at Crane Beach While Swimming

State officials will investigate whether a microburst or possibly a tornado struck Ipswich on Saturday evening, at about the same time two women were struck by lightning and seriously injured while swimming at Crane Beach.

In a statement from Ipswich Police Acting Chief Jonathan Hubbard, he said two women in their 60s or 70s were in the water when they were struck was lightning “as the storm popped up very quickly.”

“The victims may not have had enough time to exit the water and get to safety,” according to Hubbard’s statement.

Police first got a call at about 4 p.m. and Ipswich police and fire crews arrived minutes later to find the two women down in the sand with lifeguards performing CPR. Police officers and firefighters continued CPR. The women were loaded into a lifeguard pickup truck and driven them to the parking lot, where they were loaded into waiting Action Ambulances.

They were were taken to Beverly Hospital, with firefighters driving the ambulances while paramedics from Action and other firefighters continued to work on the patients. The patients had no pulse when rescuers got to them, but they each had a pulse restored by the time they arrived at the hospital.

The were later transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and are listed in critical condition.

The incident at Crane Beach was part of a storm system that could have included a downburst or tornado and officials from the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency arrived in Ipswich on Saturday,

MEMA said in a statement a large number of downed trees were impacting several of Ipswich’s main roadways and had its staff in Ipswich and also reached out to the state Department of Conservation and Recreation and MassDOT about tree crews and equipment and both departments had sent crews.

“First and foremost, our hearts go out to the two women who were struck by lightning this afternoon. We wish them the best and we hope they will recover,” said Hubbard was also serves as the town’s Director of Emergency Management. “This has been a difficult day, with several substantial weather events striking our town, but we are grateful that more people were not injured.”