More than 300 reindeer killed by lightning strike in freak disaster

More than 300 reindeer have been killed by a lightning strike in a freak natural disaster in Norway. 

The animals' carcasses were seen strewn across a mouintain plateau in eerie images released after the strike. 

The Norwegian Environment Agency said a total of 323 animal were killed in the lightning storm on Friday. Seventy calves were among the dead. 

Agency spokesman Kjartan Knutsen said it is not uncommon for reindeer or other wildlife to be killed by lightning strikes, "but we have not heard about such numbers before."

Thousands of reindeer migrate across the barren Hardanangervidda plateau as the seasons change.

Authorities are now working to decide on what to do with the animals, which would normally be left as they are in order for nature to take its course.