Family left homeless after lightning strike razes house

A FAMILY-of-six was left homeless as a frightening electrical storm ravaged parts of the country yesterday.

A family fromshocked Bantry, Co Cork, were counting their blessings after a mid-morning lightning bolt reduced their home to a shell. The hilltop dormer-type was unoccupied at the time.

Civil servant Joe O’Connell and his wife Deirdre were both at work while three of the children, Kelly, 11, Emma, 9, and Brian, 7, were at the local gaelscoil. Their youngest, four-year-old Alison, was with a child minder.