BUENOS AIRES (AFP) - Three tourists were killed by lightning and 15 others injured after a storm battered a seaside town in Argentina, officials said on Thursday.

Most people on the beach in Villa Gesell, in Buenos Aires province, had already left by the time the storm erupted, local officials said.

The fatalities and injured had been seeking shelter under awnings when the storm erupted. After the lightning strike, several victims were ferried away from the scene on sun loungers.

One woman victim was seriously injured and was in a critical condition in hospital.

Many of the injured were treated in hospital for burns. Villa Gesell is situated on the Atlantic coast, roughly 400km from Buenos Aires.