Storm warnings shut down German rock festival

A German rock festival has been shut down following a series of severe storm warnings.
Organisers of Rock Am Ring in Mendig pulled the plug on the weekend event on Sunday morning (05Jun16) “out of responsibility for the welfare” of almost 90,000 festival-goers.
Lightning struck the site on Friday night (03Jun16), leaving at least 80 people injured, and the casualty list increased over the weekend, as heavy rain storms hit Rock Am Ring.
The festival was briefly suspended on Saturday (04Jun16), but reopened for evening performers.
In a post on the festival’s Facebook page, the organisers wrote: “On the first day of the festival more than 80 visitors were injured by lightning strikes in part and admitted to hospital. Because of the risky situation, we ask you to go back home by Sunday noon. We regret the decision extraordinarily, however, ask you to understand this urgent situation which is due to the bad weather.”
Rock Am Ring 2016’s headliners included Black Sabbath and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Lightning also hit the festival site last year (15), injuring 33 people.