ATHENS (AFP).- A lightning strike injured four people Wednesday at the Acropolis in Athens, which was closed for the rest of the day, the Greek culture ministry said.

The bolt hurt two tourists and two Greeks when it struck a lightning rod near the small Erechtheion temple to the north of the famous Parthenon, a ministry spokeswoman told AFP.

A local ambulance service official had said earlier that the bolt struck a ticket booth.

The two tourists, a Korean man and a Scandinavian woman, both under 30, suffered light injuries and were checked briefly at a hospital, the ministry spokeswoman said.

Two Greek staff members who were in a guard booth suffered cuts from flying glass, and were hospitalised as a precautionary measure, she added.

The Acropolis itself suffered no damage, but the site was closed for the rest of the day since the strike knocked out electricity and the entry system at the site, the spokeswoman said.

Sitting in the historic centre of Athens, the Temple of Parthenon on the rock of the Acropolis dates back to the classical period of antiquity -- the 5th century B.C. It is one of the most-visited tourist sites in the world.

Athens itself has been swept by several violent storms in recent days.


© Agence France-Presse