Motorcycle Driver Killed By Lightning

A Gardiner, Mont., man was killed Saturday when he was struck by lightning as he drove a motorcycle south of here. The Park County coroner identified him as Christian Bowers, 23. An investigation into his death Saturday was complete, Coroner Al Jenkins said.

“The lightning strike was the cause of death, and the motorcycle accident that occurred after that was secondary,” Jenkins said.

Bowers was driving the vehicle on U.S. 89 Saturday afternoon when lightning struck. He died about four hours later at the Livingston hospital.

The Montana Highway Patrol said he received burns in several places and was injured when the motorcycle crashed.

The patrol said the death would not be added to Montana’s 1997 highway fatality toll.