At 3.15pm on Saturday, local police in Split, on the Adriatic coast, were alerted to reports that a woman had been hurt on Kasjuni beach by a lightning strike.
After receiving medical attention, she was taken to a hospital and is currently being held there for additional care.
Her life is in danger, according to a statement from the police.
They added that lightning had been seen by witnesses striking a piece of land above the beach.
The statement continued, “An investigation will be carried out at the scene and all the circumstances of this accident are being determined.”
The woman, a 48-year-old British national, was sunbathing with her daughter when a thunderstorm arrived.
Before her daughter’s screams alerted a medic who was attending to a bike accident in a triathlon that was taking place nearby, it is reported that she was struck and knocked unconscious as they attempted to reach a nearby hotel.
“The woman was struck close to the beach and fortunately for her one of our on-call medics who was attending the event managed to revive her,” a Marjenski Dir triathlon official revealed.
When he heard the woman screaming, he was dealing with a bike accident that had just happened and he rushed over to help. He stabilised her until the ambulance arrived.
A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, “We are supporting the family of a British national in Croatia and are in contact with the local authorities.