Moscow - Lightning killed three people Thursday and hospitalized six others with electric burns in Russia's Volga region of Bashkortostan, a local emergency service spokesman said.

The victims had gone to a secluded beach on the Kama River to escape the summer heat, but, as one witnesses told the Interfax news agency, cloudsw covered the sun and a storm broke out within minutes.

One of the victims, a teenager, was speaking on her cell phone when the lightning hit.

The casualties "suffered from an electric shock that interrupted their heart beat, heightened blood pressure, trauma and burns to the shoulders," the spokesman said. (dpa)