(AHN)-Seven-year-old Emily Holland narrowly escaped death when a powerful lightning bolt struck her bedroom, burning her pajamas as she lay in bed.

The blast, described by witnesses as a fireball, burnt the arm and central stomach area of little girl's cotton pajamas, but Emily miraculously escaped with just a small scorch mark to her arm after the blast missed her head by inches, leaving a four-inch long burn mark through her bedsheet and mattress.

Yesterday the family was recovering from the ordeal at a neighbor's house after the detached home in Locks Heath near Southampton was declared unsafe by experts.

Mark Jones, press officer for Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service, tells the Daily Mail, "The house was struck by lightning which caused a massive power surge. This caused the light switches to explode and blow off the walls. The family is lucky there was no fire."

The lightning strike comes after a 16-year-old girl was hit by lightning earlier this month when a one-billion volt struck her metal-framed bed, leaving her with burns to her hands touching the frame at the time.