Almost 500 Chinese killed by lightning this year

Lightning disasters are becoming more frequent in China as the country is experiencing more extreme weather. According to the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) lightning strikes killed 306 Chinese between June 25 and August 16 of this year alone.

A total of 499 Chinese have been killed by lightning in the first eight months of this year, which is 199 more than in the same period last year. A significant number of the victims were working in fields when lightning struck.

CMA head Zheng Guoguang says that in China, extreme weather is more frequent in the summer and autumn, especially in July and August. And what makes it more dangerous is its unpredictability, he adds.

Zheng says that the best way to protect oneself from lightning strikes is to avoid open spaces in lightning weather. He says that China's high death toll is partly due to a lack of awareness of weather dangers, which the Administration is now addressing by launching a joint campaign with the China Association for Science and Technology.

As a part of the campaign, more than 420,000 high schools and primary schools nationwide already received free educational materials in July providing information on the formation of lightning storms and on avoiding getting hit by lightning.

Guo Hu, head of the Beijing Meteorological Observatory (BMO), and his fellow researcher Xiong Yajun have warned that lightning could also pose a risk to athletes at next year's Olympic Games.

The warning is based on the analysis of lighting data collected over a 11-year period from 1995 to 2005, which shows that the frequency of lightning is high in Beijing during the summer season, due to its geographical and meteorological conditions. The two meteorologists have called on the Olympic organizers to take measures to provide protection at the sites most vulnerable to lightning disasters.

Guo and Xiong's report was submitted on Thursday to the ongoing 13th International Conference on Atmospheric Electricity. The report pointed out that Haidian District had the highest lightning disaster frequency. Most of the Olympic venues located in this area are open-aired.

The meteorologists also ranked the city districts according to their degree of vulnerability to lighting disasters. The most vulnerable areas are Dongcheng, Xicheng and Fengtai, followed by Haidian, Chaoyang and Tongzhou.

In 2006, a total of 717 people died and 640 were injured by lightning in China, according to CMA's statistics.