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The Latest: Girl Scouts say no one directly hit by lightning

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DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — The Latest on the rescue of Girl Scouts from a remote Minnesota island (all times local):

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12 p.m.

Officials say none of the Girl Scouts who were rescued from a remote Minnesota island near the Canadian border overnight were directly struck by lightning, after all.

The Girl Scouts of Minnesota and Wisconsin Lakes and Pines says in a Facebook post that all of the girls were back at their canoe base Saturday morning after being checked at a hospital in Ely, which is about 215 miles (345 kilometers) north of Minneapolis. It says no one was directly struck by lightning, but “they might have experienced ground current.”

Two of the girls in the group of nine, which included a guide, were reported to have been injured by the lightning strike Friday night.

The St. Louis County Rescue Squad says its members reached the group on a Knife Lake island in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness at about 4 a.m.

Rick Slatten of the rescue squad told the Star Tribune that the scouts were 15 to 18 years old.

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4:25 a.m.

Authorities in northern Minnesota early Saturday reached a group of Girl Scouts who were reportedly affected by a lightning strike in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Two of the girls in the group of nine, which included a guide, were reported to have been struck by lightning Friday night. Initial reports said it was a group of six.

The St. Louis County Rescue Squad confirmed early Saturday that crews had reached the scouts on a Knife Lake island and would bring the entire party out. The “patients and uninjured scouts” arrived at Moose Landing just before 4 a.m., according to an update from the squad.

The rescue squad clarified that the group was never “missing” or “stranded,” and all patients were “awake, alert, and able to move without assistance.”

Rick Slatten of the rescue squad told the Star Tribune that the Girl Scouts were between 15 to 18 years old.

A spokesman said Gov. Tim Walz was monitoring the situation. Walz tweeted out a request for prayers for the Girl Scouts.