A lightning strike this weekend in Beijing has aroused awareness of the safe
use of mobile phones.
On the Juyongguan section of the Great Wall, lightning hit dozens of tourists
at 2:40 pm on Saturday, injuring 15 people.
The 15 were immediately sent to hospitals for treatment, and by last night
they had all been discharged in good condition, said an official with the
Management Department of the Juyongguan Great Wall.
During the thunder and lightning, a senior person was using a mobile phone to
make a call, witnesses said.
When analyzing the cause of the accident, experts said the senior person's
use of a mobile phone had caused the lightning strike
The use of mobile phones in stormy weather has been before reported to cause
death and injury accidents in China.
On June 23 this year, a woman who called someone by mobile phone in bad
weather died after a lightning strike in the street of Changchun, capital of
Northeast China's Jilin Province.
It is very dangerous to use mobile phones in stormy weather where there is
thunder and lightning, said Liu Shuhua, a professor of the Atmosphere Science
Department at Peking University.
The electromagnetic waves emitted by mobile phones were quite good conductors
for electricity, Liu told China Daily.
When using a mobile phone while there is lightning, the mobile phone is just
like a lightning rod and a large electric current is concentrated in the mobile
phone, Liu said.
The electric current will be transmitted to the human body and could kill or
injure people, said Liu.
In public places with lightning rods, it would be safer to use mobile phones
in stormy weather, said Zhu Pei, an expert with the School of Physics at Peking
University.
But in open places, it could cause death or injury when using a mobile phone
in the weather where there is lightning, said Zhu.
In such weather, once the mobile phone is connected with the communication
network, even if one does not speak to others through a mobile phone, it would
also bring injury, Zhu said.
Zhu warned the public to turn off mobile phones in open places in storms.
It is also very dangerous to use mobile phones in electric storms while at a
gas station, Liu said.
The combination of a strong positive electrical charge in the mobile phone
and combustible gases could easily cause a fire or an explosion.
So Liu said the public should not use mobile phones in gas stations during an
electric storm.
Earlier reports said the radiation from mobile phone is also harmful to the
health of humans, but it has not been confirmed
scientifically.
