The accident happened at the Juyongguan part of the Wall, located 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Beijing when an elderly visitor's mobile phone acted as a lightning rod as he made a call, the China Daily reported.

Fifteen people were injured and hospitalized, all Chinese except for one Slovenian national who was rushed to the Sino-Japanese Friendship Hospital in Beijing.

"He felt a little dizzy, but he's been discharged now," an official with the hospital told AFP.

Following the freak accident, management at the Juyongguan section of the Great Wall decided to immediately put up boards telling visitors to turn off their cellphones when lightning occurs.

Security personnel have also been instructed to order people to switch off their mobiles on rainy days, an official at the Juyongguan Management Office told AFP.

The risk of cellphones doubling as lightning rods has recently emerged as a public hazard in China.

According to reports, a woman in northeast Changchun city was struck by lightning last month after using her mobile phone in bad weather.

"The electromagnetic waves emitted by mobile phones are quite good conductors of electricity," said Liu Shuhua, a professor at the Atmospheric Science Department of Peking University.

In particular, Liu strongly advised against using mobile phones near gas stations during thunderstorms.

TERRA.WIRE