Teenage Lifeguard Killed in Lightning Strike: ‘It Was Like a Bomb’

Keith Pinto was working at a beach on the Jersey Shore when lightning struck, killing him and injuring other lifeguards and beachgoers.

A teenage lifeguard was killed and at least seven other people were injured in a lightning strike Monday on a New Jersey beach. The lifeguard, Keith Pinto, 19, of Toms River, N.J., was fatally injured by a lightning strike at White Sands Beach in South Seaside Park around 4:35 p.m., the Berkeley Township Police Department said in a statement. Mr. Pinto died from his injuries on the beach, while the other victims, four of whom were lifeguards, were treated at nearby hospitals, the department said. Mr. Pinto had been working as a lifeguard for the past four years, according to Debbie Winogracki, communications director for Berkeley Township.