Peru: Guide killed, six French tourists injured in Seven Colors mountain lightning strike

Lightning struck the group during a hike on Mount Vinicunca, also known as the Mountain of Seven Colors, located in the heart of the Andes, about a hundred kilometers from the city of Cuzco. In a press release, local police said French tourists aged between 22 and 40 were hospitalized in Cuzco. They suffered from “burns and injuries,” she added, without further detailing their health conditions.

Seven Colors Mountain reaches a height of 5,200 meters. The colors that make it up result from the accumulation of layers of sediment over millions of years. It is one of the most visited places in Peru along with Machu Picchu, the most visited Inca site in the world.

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It was only in the last decade, however, that it became a major tourist attraction, when global warming melted the layer of ice that covered it, revealing its many colors.

Since the beginning of the year, five people have been killed by lightning in Peru’s Andean regions, according to civil defense.