International briefs: South Africa

A LIGHTNING strike in a remote area of eastern South Africa killed seven people attending an end-of-year meeting for nursery schools.Bonginkosi Meshack Radebe, the provincial welfare minister, said that a four-year-old child was among those who died on Friday.

The others were adults and included a nursery school principal and teachers who had gathered from across the rural area for the meeting.

Radebe said 40 others were injured. He was travelling to the scene, a community hall in a poor area of KwaZulu-Natal province. He said his department would pay for funerals and provide other assistance.