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Workers taken to hospital after lightning strike

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SHELBY, N.C. -- Five construction workers escaped serious injury Thursday when lightning struck their job site, near the Cleveland-Rutherford county line.

The men, part of a construction team building Duke Energy's new Cliffside power plant, were transported to Cleveland Regional Medical Center as a precaution.

At least two of the workers were released Thursday evening after being examined by hospital staff.

One of the men said his employer, The Shaw Group, had instructed the workers not to talk with reporters.

Paramedics told NewsChannel 36 the construction team heard thunder in the distance shortly before the 4:15 p.m. incident, but there were no signs of a storm directly overhead.

Job sites, including the staging area where the men were working, are normally evacuated during thunderstorms, officials said.

Gentry Brann, a spokesperson for The Shaw Group, said the company "will thoroughly investigate the matter to ensure our safety protocols were followed."