Physics:1994 Dronka lightning strike
| Date | 2 November 1994 |
|---|---|
| Location | Dronka, Asyut Governorate, Egypt |
| Coordinates | [ ⚑ ] : 27°12′N 31°00′E / 27.2°N 31.0°E |
| Type | Fire and flood |
| Cause | Lightning strike |
| Deaths | 469 |
| Property damage | More than 200 houses destroyed |
On 2 November 1994 a lightning strike ignited three diesel and aircraft fuel tanks belonging to the Egyptian Army strategic reserve near Dronka, Asyut Governorate. The flaming oil leaked from the tanks and was carried by floodwater into the village. More than 200 houses were destroyed and 469 people killed.
Strike
On 2 November 1994, Asyut Governorate and other parts of Egypt were hit by a five-hour thunderstorm.[1] A lightning strike hit a point of 78.6 metres (258 ft) elevation at [ ⚑ ] 27°12′N 31°00′E / 27.2°N 31.0°E near Dronka,[2] which was near a complex of eight oil tanks maintained by the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation as a strategic reserve for the Egyptian Army.[1] The tanks were spaced around 60 metres (65 yd) apart and three of them caught fire.[1] Around 15,000 tonnes (15,000 long tons) of oil leaked from the tanks; there was no bund wall or any secondary confinement in place to contain the oil,[3] which mixed with floodwaters that were being held back by a nearby railway line. The line collapsed, and the water and flaming oil washed into Dronka, a village of 10,000 people.[2]
Effects
Contemporary news reports suggested death tolls between 200 to over 500, possibly due to distinctions between those killed by flooding and those by fire.[2] An Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population report noted that 469 bodies were recovered from the village and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) considers this figure to be the death toll.[2] A further 63 people were killed in Assiut and other areas from the effects of the storm.[2] More than 200 houses in Dronka were destroyed and 20,000 residents of the village and surrounding area fled to Assiut. One of the tanks remained ablaze into the night as firefighters decided it was best to let it burn out; there were fears it could ignite some of the surviving five oil tanks. The governor of Assiut declared a state of emergency due to the storm and lightning strike.[1]
The WMO attributes the death toll of 469 to the lightning strike and notes the disaster is the highest mortality event as a result of a lightning strike on record (dating back to 1873).[2] The highest death toll directly caused by a single lightning strike is 21 people killed while sheltering in a hut in Zimbabwe in 1975.[4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Flood of blazing oil kills 300 villagers" (in en). The Independent. 3 November 1994. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/flood-of-blazing-oil-kills-300-villagers-1439754.html.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 "World: Highest Mortality Lightning". https://wmo.asu.edu/content/world-highest-mortality-lightning.
- ↑ WS Atkins Consultants Ltd (2001) (PDF). Effects of secondary containment on source term modelling (Report). pp. ((C-6–C-7)). HSE Contract Research Report 2001/324. https://www.hse.gov.uk/research/crr_pdf/2001/crr01324.pdf. Retrieved 2 February 2022. "There was no secondary containment in place to contain the release. If well designed bunding and good drainage systems had been in place, the burning fuel may have been contained on the site without spreading the fire."
- ↑ "WMO certifies two megaflash lightning records" (in en). 31 January 2022. https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/wmo-certifies-two-megaflash-lightning-records.
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