British woman battling to survive after being hit by lightning while sunbathing

The woman was reportedly struck on Saturday afternoon. Photo / Kgbo

A British traveller is reportedly fighting for her life in hospital after allegedly being struck by lightning in Croatia.

The woman was sunbathing on Kasjuni beach in Split when she was hit by a freak strike of lightning. Local police from the Adriatic coast town were called to the scene at 3.15 pm on Saturday.

While she has not been identified, the woman is believed to be a 48-year-old British national who was on holiday with her daughter.

She had been sunbathing with her daughter when a thunderstorm approached. It is believed the electricity from the storm was drawn to her necklace according to MailOnline.

She was reportedly knocked unconscious as she and her daughter attempted to reach a hotel nearby.

Fortunately, a medic was nearby dealing with a bike accident in a triathlon event.

An official from the Marjenski Dir triathlon told MailOnline: "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."

After receiving medical treatment for her injuries on the scene, she was taken to the hospital where she remains in intensive care.

In a statement from police, they said "her life is in danger."

Dr Mileva Frankic, who is part of the team treating the woman told local TV that the injury had been severe.

"Unfortunately, her life is still in danger," they said.

"In addition to the evident changes on the skin that we expect, there are also several organs that are the result of the lightning strike itself and the consequences of the cardiac arrest."

Dr Frankic said it was still too early to discuss the full extent of the injuries.

A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said they were providing support to the family and are in contact with the local authorities about the incident.