HOMER -- Ten state prison inmates were taken to hospitals Monday after a lightning struck while they were playing flag football, authorities said.

One man was critically injured.

Department of Corrections spokesman Ken Pastorick said in a news release that the lightning strike  "came without warning" about 6 p.m.

Typically, inmates are cleared from the recreation yard at David Wade Correctional Center in Claiborne Parish when weather creates possible dangers, Pastorick said.

Nine of the inmates were in stable condition hours later.

The prison will not release the names or locations of the injured inmates "for security reasons," Pastorick said.