Man comes back from dead to sign on A man certified dead and laid out in his coffin walked to his local unemployment office to sign up for benefit. Startled neighbours were working in their garden when they saw the door open and Ionel Olteanu, 46, wander down his path to sign on as usual. Locals in the village in Braila, Romania, were shocked because they had already paid their last respects and filed past the coffin three weeks earlier. They had all seen him in his open-top coffin, complete with flowers and ritual candles, and had laid bouquets according to Orthodox tradition. When he appeared at the gate they fell to their knees and made the sign of the cross. Olteanu is now being treated for dehydration at a local hospital. He has told doctors he had been having a really bad nightmare about a huge earthquake hitting the country, and then had woken up to find himself in the coffin. Doctors say they have no idea how to explain Mr Olteanu's apparent resurrection. Last updated: 15:55 Friday 29th September 2000. £38,000 for woman who came back from the dead Martin Wainwright Wednesday September 27, 2000 A grandmother who came back from the dead has won a four-year legal battle for compensation after a GP's misdiagnosis brought a hearse and coffin to her cottage door. Maureen Jones, 63, who suffers recurrent nightmares about being buried alive, accepted an out-of-court settlement of £38,000 yesterday from insurers acting on behalf of Marion Meeson, who mistook Mrs Jones's diabetic collapse for a fatal stroke. Mrs Jones was found face-down on the bedroom floor of her cottage in Thwing, east Yorkshire, by her son Neil, a shepherd, who called Dr Meeson. Dr Meeson, 46, had been reprimanded after an independent inquiry. Mrs Jones's three other children were on their way to Thwing, and a hearse had pulled up outside, when PC Kevin Smith, called to the scene with local coroner's officer PC Philip Shrimpton, saw the slight leg movement. He said later that he was "frightened out of his wits", but the two officers cleared Mrs Jones's airways and carried out heart massage. Mrs Jones had opened her eyes by the time paramedics arrived. She later made a full recovery. Unable to recall the details of what happened, she learned about the drama only through newspaper reports. Mrs Jones moved from Thwing to Bridlington, to escape constant gossip about the incident. April 28, 2001 Section 3.1: NUMBER OF DEATHS BY NATURAL HAZARDS, 1940-1981 (after Kessler, 1988) LIGHTNING 7,741 Note: Holle, et.al. (1993) states lightning deaths are underreported in Colorado (1950-1991) by at least 28%; Lushine (1996) states lightning deaths underreported in Florida (1970-1994) by 31%. [ Data compiled by National Lightning Safety Institute ] FACT SHEET: THUNDERSTORMS AND LIGHTNING Some thunderstorms can be seen approaching, while others hit without warning. It is important to learn and recognize the danger signs and to plan ahead. BEFORE Learn the thunderstorm danger signs: Dark, towering, or threatening clouds. Distant lightning and thunder. Severe Thunderstorm Watches and Warnings A severe thunderstorm watch is issued by the National Weather Service when the weather conditions are such that a severe thunderstorm (damaging winds 58 miles per hour or more, or hail three-fourths of an inch in diameter or greater) is likely to develop. This is the time to locate a safe place in the home and tell family members to watch the sky and listen to the radio or television for more information. A severe thunderstorm warning is issued when a severe thunderstorm has been sighted or indicated by weather radar. At this point, the danger is very serious and everyone should go to a safe place, turn on a battery-operated radio or television, and wait for the "all clear" by the authorities. DURING If indoors: Secure outdoor objects such as lawn furniture that could blow away or cause damage or injury. Take light objects inside. Shutter windows securely and brace outside doors. Listen to a battery operated radio or television for the latest storm information. Do not handle any electrical equipment or telephones because lightning could follow the wire. Television sets are particularly dangerous at this time. Avoid bathtubs, water faucets, and sinks because metal pipes can transmit electricity. If outdoors: Attempt to get into a building or car. If no structure is available, get to an open space an squat low to the ground as quickly as possible. (If in the woods, find an area protected by low clump of trees--never stand underneath a single large tree in the open.) Be aware of the potential for flooding in low-lying areas. crouch with hands on knees. Avoid tall structures such as towers, tall trees, fences, telephone lines, or power lines. Stay away from natural lightning rods such as golf clubs, tractors, fishing rods, bicycles, or camping equipment. Stay from rivers, lakes, or other bodies of water. If you are isolated in a level field or prairie and you feel your hair stand on end (which indicates that lightning is about to strike), bend forward, putting your hands on your knees. A position with feet together and crouching while removing all metal objects is recommended. Do not lie flat on the ground. If in a car: Pull safely onto the shoulder of the road away from any trees that could fall on the vehicle. Stay in the car and turn on the emergency flashers until the heavy rains subside. Avoid flooded roadways. Estimating the Distance from a Thunderstorm Because light travels much faster than sound, lightning flashes can be seen long before the resulting thunder is heard. Estimate the number of miles you are from a thunderstorm by counting the number of seconds between a flash of lightning and the next clap of thunder. Divide this number by five. Important: You are in danger from lightning if you can hear thunder. Check for injuries. A person who has been struck by lightning does not carry an electrical charge that can shock other people. If the victim is burned, provide first aid and call emergency medical assistance immediately. Look for burns where lightning entered and exited the body. If the strike cause the victim's heart and breathing to stop, give cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) until medical professionals arrive and take over. "Dead" Suspect Resurrects Panafrican News Agency September 6, 2000 Nairobi, Kenya Confusion, shock and panic gripped mortuary attendants and police officers in one of Kenya's agricultural towns Wednesday when a suspected gangster who had been presumed dead and taken to the morgue suddenly sprang to life, kicking off the bed covers with a violent jerk. The suspect, taken for dead, after being lynched by angry residents who suspected him of being a gang member in Nyeri, some 113 miles north of Nairobi, had been taken to the town's mortuary in a police van. But immediately he was thrown onto the mortuary bed, and perhaps sensing that the morgue's door was about to be shut, the middle-aged man sprang back to life, sending morgue attendants, and two police escorts scampering. On recovering from the shock, the policemen arrested the suspect, who was not identified and took him to the hospital's casualty department in handcuffs. The incident has left the residents dumb-founded and wondering whether the man had truly resurrected or had invented the drama to escape further lynching. Copyright © 2000 Panafrican News Agency. Distributed by allAfrica.com. For information about the content or for permission to redistribute, publish or use for broadcast, contact the publisher. HEADS YOU LOSE Violent trauma to the brain ­ having a foreign object rammed through it, for example ­ is not generally thought a readily survivable injury. However, down through the years, the Fortean Times has amassed a sizeable file which suggests that the old grey might not matter quite as much as we like to believe. Most recently, a 27-year-old Belfast woman working for the Multiple Sclerosis Society was stabbed in the head while travelling by train from London to Guildford. Alison Kennedy was attacked on 3 March 1997 by 17-year-old drifter Robert Buckland in an apparently motiveless assault; he plunged a 5in (13cm) ­ 6in (15cm) in some reports ­ hunting dagger into her skull, burying it almost to the hilt. As is often the case, Kennedy wasn't immediately aware that she had been stabbed. Her first sensation was, she said, one of excruciating pain: "I put my right hand up. I knew there was something in my head." She reportedly staggered along the carriage, obviously in extreme pain and with the knife still protruding, and asked another passenger, "Can you help me? What has happened?" The blade missed both the brain stem and the major blood vessels, and was removed in a two and a half hour operation at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosuurgery in London. She was left with some numbness in one arm and a degree of tunnel vision, but was otherwise physically more-or-less unscathed. A brief report in the British Medical Journal on her case mentioned, with typical BMJ understatement, that "Initially she was irritable... She was discharged home two weeks after surgery with [..] substantial anxiety." Her assailant was convicted of attempted murder in January; he was due to be sentenced in February following psychiatric reports. While playing snooker at his local Conservative Club, Ron Fenwick of Hatfield, Herts, tripped and, in falling, drove his cue through his head. It entered above his jaw on the right of his head and emerged just above and slightly behind his left ear, apparently piercing his earlobe. When an ambulance arrived at the scene, it was discovered that the cue would not fit into an ambulance, and the Fire Brigade had to be called to saw off a portion. When he finally arrived at hospital, doctors eschewed surgery in favour of slowly pulling the cue out; presumably its tapered shape minimised the risk of causing further trauma. The only ongoing ill effects he has suffered are mild headaches and a pain in his tongue which slightly affects his speech; indeed, he reportedly feels rather positive about the whole experience, since his stay in hospital prompted him to stop smoking. His son is planning to mount the cue in a glass case as a "family heirloom". However, this is as nothing to the ordeal survived by steelworker Kelvin Page in 1991. When Page was working in a Co Steel UK factory at Sheerness in Kent, a rod of steel shot off a cooling bed and through his skull. Although the 280-foot (85m) rod was heated to some 700° centigrade, he pulled it out with his bare hands after a workmate sawed it down to a more manageable size. Although he survived, the bar caused severe damage to his frontal lobes, bringing about serious personality changes. He was paid £1million in compensation by the company. Kennedy - BMJ, 20 Sep 1997; D. Record, 7 Jan; D. Telegraph, 7+ 8 Jan; Guardian, 8 Jan 1998. Poonkalya - D. Mirror, 4 Mar 1991. Fenwick - Sun, 13 Sep; The People, 29 Oct; Welwyn & Hatfield Review, 2 Nov 1995. Page - D. Express, Independent, 5 Dec 1995. CUI TINGXUN, a teacher in China's Shandong province, was practising the esoteric healing art of qigong with his wife when he suddenly attempted to gouge her eyes out, saying he had received instructions from a 'greater being' to change her facial features. Cui then attacked his wife's jaw with his teeth, saying her mouth smelled badly, before finally decapitating her with a meat cleaver. Police found him holding the shoulders of his wife's torso, exhorting her to sprout a new head. Hong Kong Eastern Express, 7 May 1996. Shades of Seven The hunt for a serial killer who has murdered five people around the Belgian city of Mons has taken a gruesome twist straight out of Hollywood. Police investigating the case have noted that the killer's trademark bin-bags full of body parts have been found in locations with grimly appropriate names. The killings apparently began early this year, when the mutilated torso of a transsexual prostitute was found on the banks of a river whose name literally means "hate". A month later, nine bin-bags of body parts turned up near another river whose name means "fear". Two days later, a torso was found on Anxiety Lane. On 12 April this year, a severed head was found on Deposit Street; the following weekend, three bags of body parts were left in St Symphorien Street, named after a beheaded martyr, whose bones are housed in a nearby church. Only one victim has so far been identified, a 21-year-old homeless alcoholic woman, murdered on 12 April. Police reportedly believe that the killer might have medical or butchery training, as the bodies are dismembered with "remarkable precision". It has also been suggested that the killer has a nine-to-five job, as all the murders take place at weekends. [AP] 25 Apr 1997. SIX ELEPHANTS were killed by one lightning bolt as they huddled together sheltering from a storm in the southern section of the Kruger National Park in South Africa. "It was a particularly heavy storm. We don't usually get that kind of lightning," said a park spokesman. D.Telegraph, 7 Nov 1997. Serial Killings Show Frightening Parallels, Regardless of Culture Second in a Two-Part Series By Edward Mazza ABCNEWS.com Nov. 29 — The severed head was placed at the gate of the Tomogaoka Junior High School in Kobe, Japan, a grim greeting found by a janitor before children began arriving for class. The head belonged to Jun Hase, an 11-year-old retarded boy who had been missing for several days. It was a crime that shocked Japan. Reached by phone in the United States, expert behaviorist Robert Ressler said authorities should be looking for an introverted boy who had attended that school. “The school is the answer. The key is in that school,” the former FBI profiler said in May 1997, just after the murder. Many Japanese were incredulous. Japan is a different culture, they reasoned. Surely, an American expert would not be able to paint an accurate picture of what went on. One month later, a 14-year-old boy who had been recently expelled from Tomogaoka was arrested. The Japanese were surprised. Ressler was not. Patterns of Death “When you get into behavior patterns, you’re pretty much looking at the same patterns worldwide,” said Ressler, whose books on serial homicide include I Have Lived in the Monster. Mental illness is a lot like physical illness: a cold in China manifests itself much in the same way as a cold would in the United States, and mental illness in some form is responsible for violent criminal behavior, he said. ALL ELEVEN MEMBERS OF A SOCCER TEAM were killed by lightning during a match in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on 25 October, while the other team remained untouched, prompting suspicions of witchcraft. All the dead, from the home team of Bena Tshadi village in the province of Eastern Kasai, were aged between 20 and 35, and 30 other people received burns, but none of the latter injuries were believed to be life-threatening. The opposing players from nearby Basangana village were said to have escaped injury. The score was 1-1 when the lightning struck. According to the uncorroborated report in the Kinshasa daily, L'Avenir, "the exact nature of the lightning has divided the population in this region, known for its use of fetishes in football." This is the Associated Press version (29 Oct 1998); according to Reuters on the same day, it was the visiting team that were struck and the home team who were unscathed. ON THE SAME DAY, viewers watching the last 12 minutes of a televised Castle Premiership football match between the Moroka Swallows and Jomo Cosmos in the George Gogh Stadium, Johannesburg, saw a group of players collapse suddenly after being struck by lightning. It was the first time in the history of South African soccer that a game was cancelled because of lightning. Jomo Cosmos were leading 2-0. Three Swallows players ­ Jaconia Cibi, Peter Matitse and Benjamin Njemo ­ were knocked unconscious; lesser injuries were sustained by Joseph Rapelego, Phumlani Dindi, Martial Chimbousou and Andrew Rabutla. Some of the latter were Cosmos players and one was the referee, which seemed to rule out witchcraft in this case. There were no fatalities, although Cibi was in a critical condition for a while. He was grateful to "God and my ancestors for saving my life... I do not even want to entertain the idea that it could have been a muti-related act." Johannesburg Star, 26+27 Oct 1998. April 28, 2001 Section 6.2: WEATHER (and other) FACTOIDS Equivalent Events: Energy released per million ergs (erg = unit of work). 100 watt lightbulb left on for a week 630 Amount of energy in a lightning bolt 630,000,000 Seismic wave from 1 kiloton explosion 630,000,000 Major Lightning Disasters. On Saturday, July 10, 1926 a violent thunder and lightning storm struck the Navy Ammunition Depot near Mount Hope, NJ. Three major explosions from millions of pounds of TNT obliterated nearby buildings. Shells landed a mile away. Glass was broken three miles away by the acoustic shock wave. Smoke could be seen in New York, some 40 miles away. Nineteen people died - thirty-eight were wounded. Congress appropriated $2.3 million to rebuild the site in 1927. From Guiness Book of World Records Most lightning on average = Kampala, Uganda (280 thunderstorm days per year on annual average, per World Meteorological Organization.) Symptoms and Common Injuries Victims of lightning strikes often experience mysterious symptoms that doctors are unable to pinpoint. These symptoms often are not life-threatening, but they may be chronic and usually do not go away with time. Symptoms Sometimes Experienced: Muscle Pains- may be cramp-like, sometimes intense Tingling Sensations Loss or Alteration of Senses- eyesight and/or hearing problems, loss of touch, inability to feel heat, cold, pressure, and/or pain, or sensations of pain (sometimes severe) with no source Dizziness Disorientation Nausea and/or Vomiting Headaches Siezures Mental Depression- common among survivors, depression may set in as a result of: The bothersome symptoms that no doctor can seem to explain, and the reality that the symptoms may last a lifetime; the feeling of isolation, as lightning strikes are relatively rare and survivors have little or no faculties for sharing their experience. Common Injuries Caused by Lightning Some victims of lightning strikes thankfully escape without any severe or permanent injury. However, injuries recieved due to a lightning strike can be serious or life-threatening. Cardiac Arrest- This is the main cause of death for strike victims. However, most victims that have gone into cardiac arrest can be easily revived with the immediate and proper administration of Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (C.P.R.). Sadly, many lightning-caused deaths could have been avoided if C.P.R. had been immediately administered to the victims. Central Nervous System (C.N.S.) damage Burns Deafness or hearing loss Blindness or loss of eyesight Muscle and/or Ligament tearing, Bone Fractures- caused by violent muscle contractions due to the electric current from a lightning strike 35 YEARS OF LIGHTNING DEATHS & INJURIES In October 1997, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration published findings of some 35 years of USA lightning statistics. Fatalities, injuries, and damage were compiled for the years 1959-1994. We summarize the Report (1) as below: 1. Location of Incident: 40% Unreported. 27% Open fields & recreation areas (not golf). 14% Under trees (not golf). 8% Water-related (boating, fishing, swimming…). 5% Golf/golf under trees. 3% Heavy equipment and machinery-related. 2.4% Telephone-related. 0.7% Radio, transmitter & antenna-related. Gender of victims = 84% male; 16% female. Months of most incidents = June 21%, July 30%, Aug 22%. summer hols Days of week of most incidents = Sun./Wed./Sat. weekends and half day closing??? Time of day of most incidents = 2 PM to 6 PM. Number of victims = One (91%), two or more (9%). Deaths by State, Top Five = FL, MI, TX, NY, TN. Injuries by State, Top Five = FL, MI, PA, NC, NY. References: Curran, Holle, & Lopez: 1997, Lightning Fatalities, Injuries and Damage Reports in the United States,1959-1994, NOAA Tech. Memo. No. NWS SR-193, October 1997. UK In July last year an 18-year-old Army cadet was decapitated when he put his head out of the skylight of a coach as he travelled through Holland. Thursday, 30 December, 1999, 14:21 GMT Police issue picture of murder suspect Divers found body parts in Loch Lomond Strathclyde Police has been given special permission to issue a picture of the man they want to speak to in connection with the murder of teenager Barry Wallace. The Crown Office sanctioned the rare legal move which allows the face of William Ian Fredrick Beggs to be publicised. Detectives have been unable to track down the 36-year-old man since they were granted a warrant for his arrest on Tuesday. Police said on Friday that new information passed to them suggests Mr Beggs may be in London or may have even travelled into mainland Europe. A murder investigation was sparked a fortnight ago when body parts - a head and limbs - belonging to that of Mr Wallace, 18, were found. The family of the supermarket employee called police after he failed to return home following a works night out on 5 December. Limbs found Two days after Mr Wallace's last sighting, police divers found human limbs in Loch Lomond. About a week later a woman out walking her dog on a beach at Troon in Ayrshire discovered a severed head. DNA tests revealed the body parts had belonged to Mr Wallace. Since last weekend, all ports and airports in the UK have been on the alert for Mr Beggs and Interpol and Europol have been alerted through the National Criminal Intelligence Service. He is described as white, 5ft 7in tall, stocky build, short brown hair, brown eyes and may have a beard. Members of the public are asked not to approach Mr Beggs. Police request that any sightings be reported to the incident room at Kilmarnock Police on 01563 505172 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Strathclyde Police had to apply to the Crown Office to have the ban on publicising pictures of criminal suspects lifted. Thursday, 30 December, 1999, 18:31 GMT Beggs lawyer to fight extradition Divers found body parts in Loch Lomond The Dutch lawyer representing William Beggs says she will oppose his extradition from the Netherlands to face murder charges in Scotland. Ten days ago Strathclyde Police issued a warrant for the arrest of Mr Beggs in connection with the murder of Kilmarnock teenager Barry Wallace. The 36-year-old has been held in Amsterdam since Tuesday after he walked into a police station with a lawyer and was arrested. His solicitor, Lian Mannheims, spoke to BBC Radio Scotland on Thursday and said it is unlikely there will be an extradition hearing before March and that it will be opposed. Remains found Mr Beggs, who is originally from Moira in Northern Ireland, was being sought in connection with the death of 18-year-old Mr Wallace, of Cumbrae Drive, Kilmarnock, whose remains were discovered earlier this month. The family of the supermarket employee called police after he failed to return home after a works night out on 5 December. Two days after Mr Wallace's last sighting, police divers found human limbs in Loch Lomond. About a week later a woman out walking her dog on a beach at Troon in Ayrshire discovered a severed head. DNA tests revealed the body parts all belonged to Mr Wallace. A Crown Office spokesman said Beggs would be extradited to face charges that he had abducted and murdered Mr Wallace. Tuesday, 29 August, 2000, 11:39 GMT 12:39 UK Giant cod conceals ghastly secret Workers at an Australian seafood processing plant in north Queensland have made a gruesome discovery - a man's head in the stomach of a giant cod. Factory co-owner Peter Monson said the head was "wholly intact" inside the 44kg (98lb) fish, which was being filleted ready for sale. The "A Fine Kettle o' Fish" factory in Cairns, about 2,000km (1,240 miles) north of Sydney, had earlier bought the 1.8m (six foot) fish from a local fishing trawler. Police are investigating whether the head may have been that of fisherman Michael Peter Edwards who disappeared after falling off a trawler near Townsville on Sunday morning. 'Disbelief' The Morgan Cod, which had been packed in ice since it was caught during the weekend, has been taken away in a body bag for investigation. "It's not an everyday occurrence that you make a discovery like this, " said Mr Monson. "There was just total disbelief. "You would never dream of it." It was unclear how the head ended up in the fish's stomach - Morgan cod suck in their prey and do not have sharp teeth. Detective Sergeant Dave Miles of Cairns police said forensic experts would be working over the next few days to identify the man's remains. Monday July 31, 1:50 AM Thirteen Injured In Violent Storm Thirteen people were hospitalised suffering from burns and Paddock Club equipment was damaged in the violent thunderstorm on Friday evening in Germany. The injuries were mainly suffered by spectators in the water-logged campsites but the lightning strike also caused a fire in the Paddock Club and damaged the big screens that carry TV pictures for the spectators. Some five centimetres of rain fell in an hour and tunnels under the circuit were flooded. Portions copyright © 2000 F1-Live. All Rights Reserved. Copyright © 2000 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. Sunday August 6, 11:25 AM Iranian Grandma attacks judge with sword TEHRAN (Reuters) - An elderly Iranian woman, angry over a court verdict, pulled out a sword from under her black chador and attacked a judge, state radio reported on Sunday. Taj Moazzemi-Gudarzi, 63, badly wounded the judge in the head and hands, in revenge for a ruling giving her daughter-in-law the right over her son's estate. Moazzemi-Gudarzi had hoped to be an heir to her son after his recent death in the western town of Borujerd. Copyright © 2000 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of Reuters Limited Copyright © 2000 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. Thursday November 16, 5:11 PM 'Serial killer' fears in London By Justin Davenport, Crime Correspondent A fourth young woman has gone missing in west London where police are hunting a suspected serial killer. Murder squad detectives said today that fears are growing for the safety of Sinead Healey, 26, who has been missing for nearly a month. She was last seen by a friend in Fulham and has failed to keep several appointments, including a memorial service for her brother. Detectives say they have spoken to colleagues investigating the disappearances of student Elizabeth Chau, 19, and Lola Shenkoya, 27. Both vanished in west London and police fear they may have been the victims of a sex killer. A third woman, Polish student Iwona Kaminska, 20, also vanished in July in Hammersmith, although the three cases have not yet been linked. Police searching for Ms Healey emphasised they are keeping all options open and added it was too early to say her disappearance is connected, but could not rule it out. {1} Ms Healey had a number of jobs including work as a cleaner and mini-cab controller. She recently missed a family trip to Ireland for a memorial mass for her brother, killed eight years ago in a road accident. Detective Chief Inspector Jim Dickie, who is leading the investigation, said: "I am genuinely very concerned for her well-being. There are some disturbing aspects to this case. "Sinead has not gone missing before and it is totally out of character for her not to be in touch with her family. "I am following all lines of inquiry and I am not dismissing the possibility that she has gone off on her own accord, but my concern for her safety is becoming more acute the more we look at this." Ms Healey's bank account has not been touched and it does not appear that she took any clothes or possessions with her. Her passport has been left at her Hammersmith flat and her car parked outside. Mr Dickie added: "We are asking anyone who knew her, friends or boyfriends, to come forward and contact us. If she is out there then I urge her to contact police or her family to let us know she is okay." Ms Healey was last seen by a friend in Fulham Palace Road near the Charing Cross Hospital at around 10pm on Wednesday 18 October. She received a call on her mobile phone and left to meet her caller. Police described Ms Healey as "hard-working" and "vivacious". She is 5ft tall with long, red hair and was wearing an off-white top and denim jeans. Copyright © 2000 Associated New Media. All rights reserved. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of Associated New Media Copyright © 2000 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. THE DEATH OF ATAHUALPA After agreeing to be baptised to escape death by burning (they burned him afterwords anyway), Atahualpa was garotted, as Don Francisco Atahualpa, on July 26, 1533. Like a cloud, the wiraqochas, The white men, Demanding gold, Invades us. After seizing Our father Inca, After deceiving him, They put him to death. He with the heart of a puma, The adroitness of a fox, They killed As if he were a llama. Hail fell, Lightning struck, The sun sank, Night came. And in their terror, The elders And the people Buried themselves alive. Quechua elegy "Death of Atahualpa" composed in the Quito region. Quote from the book: "Stolen Continents, The Indian Story" by Ronald Wright. Friday December 29, 02:30 AM Torso murder woman named Police have identified a woman whose body, severed at the waist, was recovered from the River Thames 11 days ago. The family and friends of Zoe Louise Parker contacted police after officers investigating the woman's death released pictures of her distinctive teeth and rose tattoo. A Scotland Yard spokesman said Ms Parker, 24, who also used the name Cathy Dennis, was from the Feltham and Hounslow area of west London. Her severed torso was recovered after it was spotted by a member of the public near Church Road in Battersea on 17 December. Police said the body had been in the water for between one and three weeks. Detectives believe it had been cut in half before being placed in the river. Police released photographs showing her twisted lateral incisor tooth and tattoo, scrolled with the name Zoe, after they were unable to identify her. They are still appealing for anyone who knew Ms Parker, or who can provide details of her movements over the last three months, to come forward. She is thought to have had connections with people in the West End and Charing Cross areas of central London. Copyright © 2000 BBC News Online. All rights reserved. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of BBC News Online Copyright © 2000 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. Friday December 29, 09:22 AM Police name woman sawn in half By Rob McNeil Police have named the woman whose body was found sawn in half in the River Thames as Zoe Louise Parker, 24, from Feltham. The top half of her body was pulled from the river near Church Road, Battersea, on December 17. She had been carefully severed at the waist before being thrown into the water. Zoe also used the name Kathy Dennis. Officers believe her body was in the water for between one and three weeks, and are appealing for anyone who knew her to come forward. Copyright © 2000 Associated New Media. All rights reserved. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of Associated New Media Copyright © 2000 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. Friday January 5, 03:21 PM Torso murder family appeal Relatives of a young woman whose severed torso was found in the River Thames have appealed for help in tracking down her killer. The upper body of 24-year-old Zoe Parker was spotted by a passer-by, in the river near Chelsea Harbour in west London, on December 17. Detectives believe the body had been cut up by something sharp, such as a Samurai sword. The 24-year-old's aunt and cousin, Pauline and Melissa Knott, had to be escorted from a Scotland Yard press conference on Friday after they collapsed in tears. Pauline Knott said: "Can anyone remember anything that may help us resolve this terrible thing that has happened to our sad and lonely Zoe?" Detective Chief Inspector Guy Ferguson said Zoe - who recently changed her name by deed poll to Cathy Dennis - had been taken into care when she was 18 months old, and had a chaotic lifestyle. He said she had lived at various addresses around London, including the Feltham and Hounslow area, and across the UK. She had worked as a prostitute and had learning disabilities, Mr Ferguson said. 'Loving daughter' He read out a statement by the victim's mother Jacqueline, which said: "If anyone knew Zoe or can help please come forward. "Zoe was a loving, caring daughter who meant the world to me. She did not deserve this. Please come forward." Mr Ferguson said Zoe's body might have been in the water for between one and three weeks. He added that the killer was "dangerous and calculating" and said he was keeping an open mind as to the motive. Zoe's body was identified after family and friends recognised pictures released by police of a distinctive rose tattoo, a twisted tooth and her jumper. Copyright © 2001 BBC News Online. All rights reserved. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of BBC News Online Copyright © 2001 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. Sunday January 21, 09:58 AM Saudi Arabia executes Afghan for drug smuggling DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has executed an Afghan man convicted of smuggling heroin into the kingdom, the ninth person put to death in the conservative Muslim country so far this year. The official Saudi Press Agency quoted an Interior Ministry statement as saying the man had been executed in Jeddah on Sunday. At least 121 people were executed in Saudi Arabia in 2000. The kingdom applies strict Islamic sharia laws, executing murderers, rapists and drug smugglers, often by public beheading. Copyright © 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of Reuters Limited Copyright © 2001 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. Monday January 22, 12:44 PM Brother of wife killer jailed A man who was "never able to refuse his brother" has been jailed for seven years for helping dispose of his sister-in-law's murdered and dismembered body. Elliot Quy, 22, admitted helping his brother Mitchell, a former casino croupier, hide Lynsey Quy's severed body in different spots in Southport, Merseyside. Quy, of Church Street, Southport, then helped his brother cover up the brutal crime for 18 months. Sentencing Quy to seven years on Monday, a Liverpool Crown Court judge said he could not imagine a more serious or horrific case. Quy gripped the handrail of the dock and shook visibly as he was sentenced to a further four years, to run concurrently, for perverting the course of justice. Last week Mitchell Quy, 25, of Stamford Road, Southport, was jailed for life for his wife's murder in December 1998. He had kept up an 18-month pretence that his wife had just "upped and left him" even telling her children Jack, two, and Robyn, four, that "Mummy had run away but would be back soon". Head and hands never found He claimed the former barmaid had run off with another man, and made several television appeals for her return. Last June, her torso was found near a roller-coaster in Southport and a day later her arms and legs were found dumped in bushes next to a railway line. Her head and hands were never found. Mitchell was arrested on 7 June last year and within hours admitted what he had done. Copyright © 2001 BBC News Online. All rights reserved. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of BBC News Online Copyright © 2001 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. Tuesday January 23, 02:45 PM Japanese yogi buried alive for three days By Sanjeev Miglani ALLAHABAD, India (Reuters) - Hundreds of pilgrims at a Hindu festival in northern India sought the blessing on Tuesday of a Japanese yogi who emerged smiling from a pit where she was buried for three days to meditate for world peace. The frail-looking Keiko Aikawa climbed unscathed out of a 10-foot (three-metre) pit on the banks of the holy Ganges river where she had gone into "samadhi", a form of deep meditation in which yogis are isolated from all sensory inputs. "I am just now coming out of samadhi which I did to meet with truth and to pray for you," the yogi said in halting English after disciples helped her onto a flower-decked throne before stunned pilgrims at the Maha Kumbh Festival (Grand Pitcher Festival). Millions of pilgrims and holy men have been pouring into the north Indian town of Allahabad for a sin- cleansing bathe in the Ganges on the day of the new moon on Wednesday, considered the most auspicious time in the six-week Maha Kumbh Mela or Great Pitcher festival. SAT MOTIONLESS Disciples said the Japanese yogi, who is also known as Yogi Mata Kaila Giri Ma, sat motionless and without food and water for about 75 hours in the pit covered by a thin tin sheet and sand. "Once you are in samadhi you don't need food or water," said Vijay Srivastava, a member of the Pilot Baba Yogi Mata camp of which Aikawa is a member. "She came out smiling, not a stain on her clothes which she was wearing when she went in." Pilgrims, many only in rags, reverentially touched the ground and the ladder on which the yogi emerged from the pit. A sign outside read, "Date in: 20-1-2001, 10 a.m., Date out: 23-1-2001, 1:00 p.m." A crush of people tried to move towards the stage where Aikawa, dressed in red robes, sat sipping water. Copyright © 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of Reuters Limited Copyright © 2001 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. Tuesday February 6, 10:38 AM Doctor to face death by sword A DOCTOR accused of killing another Briton in Saudi Arabia faces public execution under Islamic law if convicted of murder. Two other men also face beheading, with the affair threatening to cause intense strain on diplomatic relations. Saudia Arabia's interior minister confirmed yesterday that Alexander Mitchell, an anaesthatist believed to come from Kirkintilloch, near Glasgow, has been arrested in connection with two bombings in Riyadh. No motive has yet emerged, though there was speculation a spate of bomb attacks on Britons last year was linked to a grudge centred around illegal alcohol parties. Mitchell is accused of killing Christopher Rodway, 48, who worked in a Saudi hospital, in a car blast on November 17. Mr Rodway's wife Jane was slightly injured in the attack. Mitchell appeared on Saudi television, making an apparent confession. His voice was dubbed, but he he apparently said: "I confirm and confess that I received orders to carry out the bombing here in Riyadh on November 17." He added that he had placed the explosives in the driver's seat of Mr Rodway's car. A co-accused said that he had detonated the bomb with a remote control switch. Mr Rodway's father Jerry Rodway, 69, a retired sales representative from Salisbury, believed Mitchell should be executed if convicted. He said: "I have always believed in an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. I don't necessarily want it to be as gruesome as beheading, but if that's the way they do it there, then so be it. You can't get better than a confession. Whether that confession was made under force remains to be seen. "My feelings have always been for the death penalty. I wish it was in this country." Mitchell, reportedly working as head of the anaesthesia department at the Internal Security Hospital in Riyadh, a military medical facility, said he and Scots-Canadian William Sampson, 42, originally from the Glasgow area, an economist with the Saudi Industrial Development Fund, were responsible for the first blast in the Riyadh on November 17 last year. A third man, a Belgian identified as Raf Skivens or Stevens, said he was involved with them in a second bomb attack on November 22 that injured three Britons and an Irish woman. Neither Saudi officials nor the three men gave a motive, and Prince Nayef did not say when the men were arrested or when they would be tried. But in remarks published in newspapers yesterday, he said Islamic law, or sharia, would apply. He noted: "Do we have anything else other than sharia as a justice system?" Islamic law dictates the execution of convicted murderers, rapists and drug smugglers. The Foreign Office has played down criticism of Saudi Arabia despite being kept in the dark over developments in the case. But last month it summoned the Saudi ambassador to protest that Mitchell and another Briton detained in December had not been allowed to see British consular officials. Saudi Arabia said the men were being detained in connection with alcohol offences. Mitchell, who has asked Foreign Office officials not to release his personal details, was arrested on December 17. He was one of six Britons, including two other Scots, being held in what appeared to be a crackdown on drinking. It is illegal in Saudi Arabia. The other men in custody for alcohol offences are understood to be Ron Yates, from Bolton, Greater Manchester, David Mornin and Kelvin Hawkins, both from Greenock, Paul Moss from St Helens, Merseyside, and Ken Hartley, whose address is not known. All three of the bombing accused have appeared on Saudi Arabian television to confess to their part in the attacks. Schifte said Mitchell recruited him for the second attack five days later, that he was given the explosives by Mr Sampson and placed them under a car parked outside a residential complex. The bombings came at a time of increasing fears of violence against westerners from Islamic fundamentalists. But there has been increasing speculation in Saudi Arabia that they were part of a personal vendetta - or linked to alcohol smuggling rings. A spokesman for Amnesty International said: "Secrecy, torture and unfair trials are the hallmarks of Saudi justice." Stephen Jakobi, of Fair Trials Abroad, said the confessions were "show trials". He said: "This is the worst case affecting a European citizen I have seen." In 1998, Scottish nurse Lucille McLaughlan was one of two British hospital staff convicted of murdering a colleague. They were spared execution, set free, and returned home saying Saudi authorities used brutality to extract confessions. Copyright © The Scotsman Publications Ltd. Copyright © 2001 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. Wednesday March 7, 05:06 PM Ripper fear as body found in Thames By Anthony France The discovery of the third woman's body in one of London's waterways in three months has led to fears of a Ripper-style serial killer, who murders prostitutes before throwing their bodies into the capital's rivers or canals. The latest victim, a black woman aged around 40, had been strangled, tied up and wrapped in a carpet before being thrown in the Thames. Although the body, found near Lambeth Bridge, had not been hacked up like the previous victims, investigating officers in all three cases will be conferring to probe whether the murders are linked. Police were called just before 1.45pm on Monday to reports of a body floating in the Thames near Lambeth Bridge. It was recovered by specialist police divers. Today a murder inquiry was launched, headed by Detective Chief Inspector William Chambers of the Serious Crime Group. A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said: "We have yet to establish an identity for the deceased. "The victim was black and is believed to be in her late thirties to fifties. A post mortem carried out at Westminster Mortuary gave the cause of death as compression of the neck. "The body had been in the water less than a week, but we are unable to be more specific." Referring to the other murder investigations, the spokeswoman added: "As is normal, those leading the separate inquiries will work with each other, but at this stage there is nothing to link the three cases." On 19 February, the body of 31-year-old crack addict prostitute Paula Fields, who lived in Highbury Grove, was found in Regent's Canal, Camden. It had been hacked to pieces, stuffed into at least six holdalls and weighted down with bricks and tiles. Underwater search teams are still looking for more evidence, but police fear the killer could be keeping body parts as trophies. Miss Fields, who was originally from Liverpool, lived in a hotel bedsit in Highbury Grove. On 17 December, the severed torso of 24-year-old Zoe Parker, from Hounslow, Middlesex, who occasionally worked as a prostitute, was found in the Thames near Church Road in Battersea. Her body had been sawn in half and the lower half is still missing. Detectives said Zoe, who was also known as Kathy Dennis and occasionally worked as a prostitute, had been carefully cut at the waist before being hurled into the water up to three weeks previously. Copyright © 2001 Associated New Media. All rights reserved. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of Associated New Media Copyright © 2001 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. Oddly Enough - Reuters - updated 12:03 PM ET Mar 22 Reuters Wednesday March 21 7:57 AM ET Market Loser Claims to Have Banker's Corpse MILAN (Reuters) - A man who lost a fortune on the Milan stock market said he snatched the corpse of legendary Italian banker Enrico Cuccia and would only return it when the market boomed again, ANSA news agency said Tuesday. ``You will think I am mad, but I'm not, I'm just exasperated,'' the man wrote in Italian in a letter to ANSA's Milan office. The macabre theft of Cuccia's coffin from a small cemetery near the northern Lake Maggiore was discovered Friday. Cuccia, who ran the powerful Milan investment bank Mediobanca for some 40 years and was considered the father of Italian capitalism, died last year at 92. ANSA reported the man's letter as saying he did not want a ransom, but would only return Cuccia's body to his family when the Milan bourse index of blue chip stocks, the so-called Mib30, made a strong recovery to 50,000 points. The Mib30, at around 37,880 late Tuesday, was last above 50,000 during a stock market boom in March last year. The author of the Milan-postmarked letter, written in capital letters with a ballpoint pen, said he was ``a man who over the years has lost most of his savings in share investments on the Milan stock exchange,'' ANSA reported. He said he had removed Cuccia's body with some friends. The letter added that if the Milan stock market didn't show signs of a recovery by the end of the year, the man would begin ''hitting people in the world of finance and financial journalists who, like Cuccia, have contributed to my ruin.'' Police had said they were investigating possible political motives or a demand for ransom behind the theft of the body. Lieutenant-Colonel Marco Rizzo of Milan paramilitary carabinieri said police were still keeping all options open. ``What the letter contains isn't completely absurd or false -- it's one hypothesis to take into consideration,'' he told Reuters Tuesday, adding the letter would be checked for fingerprints. A Mediobanca official said Tuesday the bank, which had its switchboard working over the weekend, had not received any phone calls relating to the disappearance of Cuccia's body. Police said they were examining two other claims for the body-snatching by people claiming to represent groups of unemployed. Other possible motives for the theft cited in newspapers include Satanic rituals or an attack by the Mafia, which has raided tombs for ransom in the past. Copyright © 2001 Yahoo! Inc., and Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Saturday March 17, 09:18 AM Four bodies found in apparent Moscow ritual murder MOSCOW (Reuters) - Moscow police found four bodies in a cellar in what appeared to be a ritual killing, Interfax news agency said. The news agency said on Saturday a man and a woman had been charged with the crime. The remains, of three women and a man, were surrounded with candles and covered in garlands of flowers. The women were decapitated and the man's chest had been cut open, Interfax said, citing police. It said police were not entirely certain the killings formed a ritual murder and were still trying to establish the motive. Copyright © 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of Reuters Limited Copyright © 2001 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. Monday April 16, 05:07 PM Three injured in samurai sword attack Three men have been taken to hospital with serious injuries after a man attacked them with a Samurai sword.The incident happened in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, just a few hundred yards from the scene of a Samurai sword attack last year which left a councillor dead and an MP injured.Police say the incident took place outside a restaurant in the town's Regent Street.It is believed the incident involved a dispute between the swordsman and door security staff.A police spokesman said: "During the incident three male persons received injuries to arms and hands none of which is life threatening."Members of public in the vicinity responded to the disturbance and a man was contained within a motor vehicle and prevented from leaving the scene."The spokesman say a 21-year-old local man has been arrested and is helping police with their inquiries.Earlier this year a jury decided that 50-year-old former surveyor Robert Ashman attacked and killed county councillor Andrew Pennington with a Samurai sword at Cheltenham's Liberal Democrat offices.The town's Liberal Democrat MP Nigel Jones was seriously injured in the attack.Ashman denied murder and attempted murder and was found unfit to stand trial at Bristol Crown Court. Copyright © 2001 Associated New Media. All rights reserved. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of Associated New Media Copyright © 2001 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. Monday April 16, 06:32 PM Call for ban on Samurai swords A Liberal Democrat MP who was slashed by a Samurai sword has called for curbs on the weapons after a second attack in his constituency. Nigel Jones said he will write to Home Secretary Jack Straw after three men were taken to hospital following a Samurai sword attack outside a bar in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. The incident happened just a few hundred yards from the constituency office where he was badly injured and his Lib Dem councillor Andrew Pennington was killed in a similar attack last year. He said: "I did not want to make a fuss about Samurai swords when I was attacked, but to have two attacks with these weapons in one town in just over a year is just too horrible. "Although these swords are supposed to be for ceremonial use, the one that was brought into my office last year could chop peoples' heads off." Eyewitnesses said the latest attack happened after a man had an altercation with doormen outside the J's Vodka Bar in the town's Regent Street. He returned 40 minutes later with the sword and started slashing out at doormen. Bystanders were splattered with blood as the man repeatedly attacked the two bouncers with the 3ft blade at about 2140BST on Easter Sunday night. Two doormen and a passer-by were taken to hospital. One had wounds to his arm and hand as he tried to defend himself and was still in Cheltenham General Hospital on Monday. The two other suffered less serious injuries to their arms and hands and were released after treatment. The attacker tried to make his escape in a blue G-reg Rover 216 GSi but the way was sealed by the driver of a Saab who blocked the road in front of him. The attacker was then surrounded by passers-by and staff from J's who kept him inside until the police came. Police are now questioning a 21-year-old local man following the incident. In February last year, Andrew Pennington died and Mr Jones was injured when they were attacked by 50-year-old former surveyor Robert Ashman. Last month Ashman was sent to a secure hospital for an indefinite time after a jury found him mentally unfit to stand trial. Mr Jones, who needed 60 stitches for a hand wound, said: "Maybe the time has come to look into imposing regulations on keeping swords. "There are regulations on shotguns, possibly we could have something similar here." Copyright © 2001 BBC News Online. All rights reserved. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of BBC News Online Copyright © 2001 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. Man charged over Samurai attack Police have charged a 21-year-old man following an alleged samurai sword attack outside a nightclub in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. The man was charged with two counts of wounding, one of attempted wounding and one of causing criminal damage following the incident on Sunday night. Two doormen, one aged 27, the other 34, and a passer-by had to be taken to hospital suffering from cuts. The man is due to appear before Cheltenham magistrates on Tuesday. Copyright © 2001 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. Oddly Enough - Reuters - updated 8:05 AM ET Apr 2 Reuters Monday April 2 8:04 AM ET Banker's Stolen Corpse Found in Barn MILAN, Italy (Reuters) - A coffin containing the corpse of legendary Italian banker Enrico Cuccia, mysteriously snatched from his tomb two weeks ago, was found in a country barn outside Turin, police said Sunday. A local man without a police record had been arrested and the coffin, found Saturday night, was to be replaced in Cuccia's tomb near Lago Maggiore in north Italy later Sunday. Cuccia, honorary chairman of the secretive and powerful Milan merchant bank Mediobanca and hailed as the father of Italian capitalism, died last year aged 92. Police said they found the coffin under a pile of hay in a deserted barn 30 kms (20 miles) outside Turin after capturing a 39-year-old local metalworker in the act of phoning Mediobanca's Chief Executive Vincenzo Maranghi to press for a ransom. Police said the man, identified as Giampaolo Pesce, had admitted snatching the body and sending a ransom note demanding six million Swiss francs ($3.47 million) in return for Cuccia's body. ``I needed the money,'' he was reported to have told police, who are looking for at least two accomplices. Police said Pesce's first mistake had been to address the ransom note to the head of Rome's water and electricity utility Acea, Paolo Cuccia, thinking he was Enrico's son although he is in fact not related to the banker. His fingerprints matched those found on the letter. Police said Pesce then phoned Maranghi last Friday and the banker gave him his mobile phone number and arranged a phone call for Saturday to discuss ransom terms. Maranghi tipped off Turin police, who staked out local phone boxes and caught the would-be ransomer as he tried to telephone the Mediobanca chief executive. ``It's clear we are dealing with a bunch of local amateurs and not an organized crime network as was first surmised,'' a Turin police official said. As founder of Mediobanca, a bank that played a key role in almost every deal in Italian corporate finance since the 1940s, Cuccia was one of the country's most powerful men. 2001 The Journal of strange phenomena Corpse Riddle Reported by Pat O'Halloran Seen in Scarborough Evening News on 18 April 1996 CHINESE scientists are baffled by a corpse that has failed to decompose or turn stiff three-and-a-half years after the old woman died. Not only had the body not rotted away, the face of the corpse was stil radiant, many of its joints still supple, and the head still turnedon its shoulders. The woman died of a heart failure in November 1992. Anja Rueschel, 19, of Stenda, Germany, was pronounced dead after being run down by a car, but woke up inside a zinc coffin used to carry the dead from traffic accidents. She banged on the lid and fainted as medics unscrewed it. She recovered from her head injuries. Daily Star, 8 Mar 1996. Peter Archer, 47, was arrested for running naked down a street in Melbourne, but he was released when it was discovered that he was fleeing from a mortuary where a doctor had officially pronounced him dead. Irish Independent Sun, 19 Mar 1996. Chen Chun-nan, 34, started to sweat while his wife was crying over his "dead" body at a funeral house in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, after a car crash. Also in southern Taiwan, Kuo Lee-huang, 61, was found "dead" in his house, but when a policeman went to inspect the funeral, Mr Kuo "moved all of a sudden". South China Morning Post, 29 April 1996. Asuncion Gutirrez, 100, startled her mourning family and friends in Managua, Nicaragua, when she sat up in her coffin at her wake and asked for food. "This is the third time she has done this to us," said her grandson. [AFP] 4 May 1996. Undertaker Richard Blake, 27, was attacked by a "corpse" which came to life as he was embalming it. Blake suffered broken ribs in the New York assault. The attacker then suffered a massive heart attack and died again. Daily Record, 13 May 1996. Micaela Velasco, 101, was declared dead by a doctor in Zamora, north-west Spain. A few hours later, undertakers were preparing her for her burial when they saw her lips move. Three days later, she was "as fit as a lady of her age can be". D.Telegraph, D.Mail, 30 Sept 1996. Two morgue attendants in Havana, Cuba, playing chess on the night shift to pass the time, got the shock of their lives when a "corpse" suddenly sat up, reached over and moved one of the chessmen. Coroner Jose Muñoz said Miguel García suffered a heat attack and had been incorrectly pronounced dead. He came to on the slab and, disoriented, grabbed the first thing he saw ­ the black bishop . He moved it three squares and dropped it. At the time of the report, he was recovering at Havana General Hospital. People & Places (Ghana), 17 Oct 1996. A 93-year-old woman was rescued from cremation at a mortuary in Gungzhou in southern China's Guangdong province when a mortuary worker tried to tie an identification tag to her hand and realised she was breathing. Doctors found the woman was suffering from low blood pressure brought on by diabetes. Her condition was said to be improving. [R] 4 Feb 1997. Armando Cassa got so depressed when he was reported to have died in a fire in 1991 that he jumped to his death from a high-rise building in Puerto Rico. New Yorker Julia Carson was pronounced dead from heart disease, and preparations for her burial began. At the funeral parlour she 'came back to life', sat up in her coffin and asked what was going on. Her daughter Julie promptly dropped dead of shock. In the Philippines, neighbours who saved the life of Gerardo Gregorio as he attempted suicide were dismayed that he showed little sign of gratitude. In fact he was so upset that he hacked three of them to death with a machete and wounded three more before being cut down himself. Man decapitated after sticking head out of bus window A man who stuck his head out of a bus roof window in Denmark was decapitated when the vehicle passed under a bridge. Police are trying to find out why the 30-year-old man opened the window, which was intended as an emergency exit. The man was one of 40 FC Copenhagen football supporters who were on their way back from a match against Viborg. The accident happened on a road south of Copenhagen. Last updated: 17:45 Monday 14th August 2000. Friday September 8, 8:45 PM After 104 years, swashbuckling French still fencing favorites By Sandy Zinn SportsTicker Senior Editor JERSEY CITY, New Jersey (Ticker) -- In what competition have athletes feinted, lunged, parried and riposted in every Olympic Games? Fencing. Fencing is one of nine original events and only one of four that has been contested in every Olympic competition since the first in 1896, along with track and field, gymnastics and swimming. The sport evolved from the ancient form of combat and was the first to include recognized professionals in medal competition after original "masters" events in 1896 and 1900. Ten gold medals in three disciplines are up for grabs at this year's Games, which don't figure to include the drama of 1924, when an Italian and Hungarian settled a scoring controversy with a real duel. Like the old musketeer movies, the best sword fighters in the world are from France, although in recent years, Russia, Italy and Hungary have held their own. France's Laura Flessel-Colovic is the most publicized fencer in the world as the reigning Olympic champion in both the women's individual and team epee competitions. Flessel-Colovic, who defeated countrywoman Valerie Barlois in the individual event, was born on the Carribean island of Guadeloupe but moved to Paris at the age of 18 to further her fencing career. She also defended her epee title at last year's Senior World Championships in Seoul, Korea and helped France win the Cup of Nations. Italy and Russia have joined France as world fencing powers and are primed for several medals in Sydney. The two nations combined for seven medals at the 1999 Worlds, with Italy matching France's championship-high four. Russian men won five of the six events, including four gold, at the 1996 Games and should combine with the other countries to keep the United States off the podium. America's top swashbuckler is Cliff Bayer, a New York native, 1996 Olympian and three-time U.S. National champion. Bayer also became the first American men's foil fencer to win a gold medal at a World Cup event as a junior in December 1995. Bayer, expected to graduate from University of Pennsylvania's prestigious Wharton School of Business next year, will try to earn the first Olympic fencing medal by an American since 1984. He will compete in the foil, an event for men and women with both individual and team competitions. Men also have individual and team events for sabre and epee while women compete in foil and epee individual and team events. The disciplines differ in where points are scored on the body and with what part of the sword. Copyright © 2000 SportsTicker Enterprises LP. All rights reserved. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of SportsTicker Copyright © 2000 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. The Guillotine In 1789, Dr. Joseph Guillotin proposed that all criminals should be executed by the same method. Since decapitation was generally accepted as the least painful and most human execution method at the time, Guillotin suggested that a decapitation mahine be built. It was widely used during the French Revolution. DISTRIBUTIONS OF LIGHTNING-CAUSED CASUALTIES AND DAMAGES SINCE 1959 IN THE UNITED STATES Ronald L. Holle and Raúl E. López National Severe Storms Laboratory, NOAA Norman, Oklahoma E. Brian Curran National Weather Service, NOAA Fort Worth, Texas 1. INTRODUCTION This paper summarizes casualties and damages due to lightning in the U.S. based on the NOAA publication Storm Data. Curran et al. (1997) includes expanded versions of many of the figures and tables. Annual summaries of weather impacts based on Storm Data have been published since 1990 by NOAA's National Weather Service. Table 1 shows the number of deaths, injuries, and costs of property damage from four types of convective weather during three recent typical years. Lightning caused 44% of the fatalities, 19% of the injuries, and 3% of the damages for all convective-weather reports, according to Storm Data. Absolute values of these numbers must be considered with caution, however, for reasons given in the next chapter. When all types of weather-related casualties are examined, Table 2 shows that lightning stays near the top of the list; only flash and river floods rank higher than lightning in terms of deaths. Knowledge of medical issues concerning lightning victims has grown greatly during the 1990s (Andrews et al. 1992; Andrews 1995; Cherington 1995; Cooper 1995; Cooper and Andrews 1995; Primeau et al. 1995; Cherington et al. 1997). This improved understanding of the medical profiles and demographic distribution of lightning victims has resulted in a multidisciplinary effort concentrating on lightning safety and education (Vavrek et al. 1999). A significant emphasis is being placed on sports and recreation (Bennett 1997; Walsh et al. 1997). 2. LIGHTNING CASUALTY AND DAMAGE REPORTS Reports of damaging weather phenomena are compiled monthly at each National Weather Service office. The reports are sent to NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) in Asheville, N.C. where Storm Data is assembled. This publication has been compiled with substantially the same procedures since 1959. For this paper, an electronic version of Storm Data was obtained from NCDC of only lightning reports. From 1959 to 1994, Storm Data had 3,239 deaths, 9,818 injuries, and 19,814 property-damage reports due to lightning. Each report contains: - Year, month, day. - Time in Local Standard Time (LST). - State and county. - Number, gender, and location of fatalitties. - Number, gender, and location of injuriees. - Amount of damage. Lightning-caused casualties and damages are often less spectacular and more widely dispersed in time and space than other phenomena such as tornadoes and hurricanes. Therefore, lightning deaths, injuries, and damages are underreported as follows: * 33% more lightning deaths in Texas than Storm Data (Mogil et al. 1977). * 28% more fatalities and 42% more injuries requiring hospitalization in Colorado than Storm Data (López et al. 1993). * The number of Storm Data events was under-reported by 367:1 in a review of insured personal property in 3 western states (Holle et al. 1996). The latter paper leads to the conclusion that lightning-caused damages are actually similar to, or exceed costs of other phenomena in Table 1. When other unquantified losses are considered, lightning may be as large a cause of damages, and have as little change from year to year, as any weather type. TABLE 1. Annual number of convective-weather deaths, injuries, and property damage, 1992-1994 (National Weather Service, Office of Meteorology). Order is by number of deaths. _____________________________________________________ Convective Fatalities Injuries Damages weather type ($million) _____________________________________________________ Lightning 51 345 32 Tornadoes 47 1,114 551 Thunderstorm wind 18 352 295 Hail 0 43 345 _____________________________________________________ Factors contributing to underreporting include: -Most casualty events involve one person.. -The National Weather Service relies on nnewspaper clipping services for many lightning events in Storm Data (López et al. 1993). -Lightning is sometimes listed as a seconndary rather than primary cause of a casualty by the medical system (Mogil et al. 1977; López and Holle 1998). Nevertheless, Storm Data is the only consistent data source for several decades. In this report, its information was used without modification. TABLE 2. 1994 weather casualties, and 30-year normals. Order is by 30-year death rate, then 1994 deaths. _____________________________________________________ Weather Deaths 1994 1994 type per year deaths injuries _____________________________________________________ Flash flood 59 33 139 River flood 32 14 Lightning 87 69 484 Tornado 82 69 1,067 Hurricane 27 9 45 Extreme temperatures 81 298 Winter weather 31 2,690 Thunderstorm wind 17 315 Other high wind 12 61 Fog 3 99 Other 6 59 Total 388 5,165 _____________________________________________________ 3. VARIATIONS BY STATE IN REPORTED NUMBERS Section 3 shows the number of lightning reports by state, and the rank of each state, then Section 4 shows rates per population. a. Casualties Figure 1 shows the rank of each state in lightning-caused casualties (both deaths and injuries). Florida has twice the number of casualties of any other state. The rest of the top ten states, in order, are Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Texas, Tennessee, Georgia, and Colorado. Other high-ranking states are in southern and eastern regions of the country, and very populous states in the northeast. Fewest casualties are in Alaska (none), Hawaii, the District of Columbia, northwest states, Puerto Rico, and small eastern states. b. Fatalities Florida has more than twice the number of lightning deaths of any other state (Curran et al. 1997). The other top-ten states are the same as for casualties except Louisiana, Maryland, and Arkansas replace Michigan, Georgia, and Colorado. Other state rankings usually do not change by more than 5 from casualties except: * Michigan was in the top 10 casualty list, but not fatalities, because of two large injury cases (Ferrett and Ojala 1992). * Lightning caused an aircraft crash that killed 81 people in Maryland in 1963; that state became seventh in fatalities over the period. Previous studies of lightning fatalities include Duclos and Sanderson (1990), who used data from the National Center for Health Statistics. Deaths from Storm Data have been plotted by state (Mogil et al. 1977) or at specific locations (Zegel 1967). Results were substantially similar to Figure 2. Single-state maps by county have been compiled for Florida (Duclos et al. 1990), North Carolina (Langley et al. 1991), Michigan (Ferrett and Ojala 1992), and Colorado (López et al. 1995). A table of fatalities by Canadian province was developed by Hornstein (1962). Pakiam et al. (1981) plotted fatalities on a map of Singapore. Maps of deaths divided by political boundaries were shown by Coates et al. (1993) for Australia and by Gourbière et al. (1997) for France. c. Injuries The distribution of injuries by state is nearly identical to casualties in Figure 1, since 75% of the casualties are injuries (Curran et al. 1997). Florida had nearly twice as many injuries as Michigan. 4. VARIATIONS BY STATE WEIGHTED BY POPULATION a. Casualty rate per population When population is taken into account, the maxima shift from populous eastern states to Rocky Mountain and plains states (Figure 3). The top two rates are from Wyoming and New Mexico; these states were 35th and 21st in number of casualties. Wyoming had most of its casualties in the 1960s and 1970s, and almost none since then. Southeast states often have high rankings in both Figures 1 and 3. The only states in the first 10 of both casualties and casualty rate are Florida, Colorado, and North Carolina. b. Death rate per population The map of lightning-caused death rate is similar to Figure 3 (Curran et al. 1997). New Mexico and Wyoming exchange first and second places in the lightning-caused death rates compared to the casualty list. c. Injury rate per population Locations with high injury rates are in similar locations to those with high casualty rates (Curran et al. 1997). Florida and North Carolina are the only states that rank in the top ten of both injuries and injury rate. Otherwise, states with high injury rates are less populous than many or most other states. Lowest injury rates are from similar locations as casualty rates--Alaska, Hawaii, west-coast states, and smaller east-coast states. 5. YEAR-TO-YEAR VARIATIONS The number of lightning deaths slowly decreased from 1959 to 1994, while injuries increased in the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico (Figure 5A). As a result, the ratio of injuries to deaths steadily increased through these years (Figure 5B). While not shown here, after population growth was taken into account (normalization), several major trends were identified by López and Holle (1996, 1998). A 30% decrease in normalized casualties was attributed to improved forecasts and warnings, better awareness of the lightning threat, more substantial buildings available for safe refuge, and/or other socioeconomic changes. An additional 40% reduction in normalized deaths may be due to improved medical care and emergency communications. The injury rate decreased only 8% because of the transfer of some potential deaths into injuries; this transfer may be due to better emergency communications, medical attention, and other factors. Additional fluctuations on the scale of one or two decades broadly parallel national-scale changes in frequencies of thunder-days, cyclones, and surface temperature. A gradual increase in damage reports (Figure 5C) could be due to population growth. Additional details of decadal changes by region and state in casualties and damages are in Curran et al. (1997). Notable decreases in deaths were documented with long-term datasets in England and Wales (Elsom 1993), England and Wales compared to Australia (Golde and Lee 1976), and Singapore (Pakiam et al. 1981). Australian deaths increased from 1825 to 1918, then decreased to 1991 (Coates et al. 1993). 6. MONTHLY AND SEASONAL VARIATIONS Lightning casualties and damages peak during July (Figure 6). Monthly percentages increase gradually before, then decline more quickly after July. Cloud-to-ground flashes also show these features (Orville and Silver 1997). Casualties reach a higher July maximum than damage reports (Figure 6B). The difference may result from a more focused exposure of people to lightning during summer months than spring or fall. Prior Storm Data studies also found a July maximum, a slower increase before and a faster decrease after July (Zegel 1967; Mogil et al. 1977; Duclos and Sanderson 1990; López and Holle 1995; Ferrett and Ojala 1992; López et al. 1995). August maxima were found in Florida by Duclos et al. (1990), and Holle et al. (1993). In Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, slightly more insurance claims were made in August than July (Holle et al. 1996). Seasonal and regional maps in Curran et al. (1997) show that summer casualties and damage reports closely follow annual maps. During other seasons, lightning cases are more frequent in southern states. Frequencies in the northeast are low except during the summer, while they are high on the West Coast during autumn and winter. The largest number of Australian fatalities are in January; this is due to the reversal of seasons from the U.S. (Coates et al. 1993). Singapore fatality maxima in November and April (Pakiam et al. 1981) are similar to the annual cycle of local thunderstorms. 7. TIME OF DAY VARIATIONS Most lightning casualty and damage reports occur in the afternoon in the U.S. (Figure 7). Two-thirds of the casualties occur between 1200 and 1800 Local Standard Time (LST). They show a steady increase toward a maximum at 1600 LST, followed by a slightly slower decrease after the maximum. Damage reports are more broadly distributed in time (Figure 7B). During the afternoon, there are up to 6% more casualties than damage reports, while some nighttime hours have 3% fewer casualties than damage reports. People are less likely to be involved in lightning-sensitive activities at night than during the day, and avoid activities during a brightly-illuminated storm. Maximum numbers of lightning impacts from 1400 to 1600 LST were documented by Duclos et al. (1990), Ferrett and Ojala (1992), and López and Holle (1995). Duclos and Sanderson (1990) found an 1800 LST peak in North Carolina deaths. Highest frequencies of casualties in all U.S. regions are typically within one hour of 1500 LST (Curran et al. 1997), while damage reports usually peak an hour or two later. Narrower distributions are apparent in the Rockies, southeast, and northeast. The broad time series in the plains and midwest, especially for damage reports, may be due to nocturnal thunderstorm complexes such as MCSs. The daily 6-hour sequence shown in Curran et al. (1997) is as follows: + At night (0000-0559 LST), casualties and damage reports are most frequent in the plains, upper midwest, and a few populous eastern states. Compared to Figures 1 and 3, there is a shift in highest-ranking states to the north and east. Of the 29 deaths from 0000-0559 LST, 59% occurred when people were in a house set on fire by lightning. The other common situation was when people were camping in tents (21%). + Casualties in the morning are spread widely across the country. Damage reports are most common on the plains. + Casualties during the afternoon resemble Figure 1, since these are the most frequent hours for deaths (67%) and injuries (63%). Damage reports are not as closely related to the 24-hour map in Figure 2, since afternoon damage reports are only 41% of the Storm Data reports. + Evening deaths and injuries are distributed similarly to nighttime. The distribution of evening damage reports was similar to Figure 2. Seasonal variations are as follows (Curran et al. 1997): o Winter: Casualties in winter are erratic, and damage reports are spread through the 24 hours. o Spring: Casualties occur during nearly the same afternoon hours as for the entire year and country. There is a secondary peak before noon. Damage reports in spring show a weaker diurnal cycle than spring or yearly damages. o Summer: Casualties and damage reports follow annual curves. o Autumn: Casualties have a broad afternoon peak and a secondary morning peak. Damage reports are spread through the day in a manner similar to spring, but are most common in late afternoon. 8. OTHER INFORMATION IN STORM DATA a. Gender Males account for 84% of the lightning fatalities, 82% of injuries, and 83% of casualties (Curran et al. 1997). Corresponding ratios indicate males being killed 4.6 times as often as females, and injured 5.3 times more often as females. Similar ratios were found in the U.S. (Duclos and Sanderson 1990; Duclos et al. 1990; Langley et al. 1991; Holle et al. 1993), Singapore (Pakiam et al. 1981), and England and Wales (Elsom 1993). Other studies have shown males in their twenties to be the most frequent victims of lightning. The digital Storm Data record does not include age, although the descriptive paragraph in the printed publication usually does provide the age. b. Location Location categories in Storm Data are not very useful. "Not reported" and "at various other and unknown locations" account for 40% of the entries. In addition, categories are often not well defined. More can be learned about victims' situations from other datasets or the descriptive paragraphs in Storm Data. This time-consuming task has not been performed for the entire country, but results from some states are: * Lightning victims in North Carolina were most often at and near their home (Duclos and Sanderson 1990). In contrast, Langley et al. (1991) found that North Carolina deaths were most often in a farm, field, or garden. * A significant number of lightning victims were in the vicinity of water in Florida (Duclos et al. 1990; Holle et al. 1993). * Lightning casualties during recreation have increased since 1950 in Colorado, while agricultural casualties decreased (López et al. 1995). * Similar results were found in Singapore (Pakiam et al. 1981) and Australia (Coates et al. 1993). It is also important to go beyond the Storm Data digital record to find a person's activity, which can tell about a lightning victim's situation. c. Victims per event The most common situation is for only one victim to occur in a lightning incident. For death incidents only, 91% had one fatality; another 8% had two people killed in an incident. The largest fatality event was the Maryland airliner crash in 1963 that killed 81 people. For injuries only, 68% had one injury. The largest injury event was 90 at a Michigan campground (Ferrett and Ojala 1992). The distribution of casualty events closely resembles the injury distribution. The same tendency for single victims was noted in the U.S. (Zegel 1967, López et al. 1995), Singapore (Pakiam et al. 1981), and Australia (Coates et al. 1993). c. Day of week Sunday has 24% more deaths than other days; a slight tendency for more deaths is also evident on Wednesday (Curran et al. 1997). The most injuries are on Wednesday and weekend days, and the least on Tuesday and Friday. Casualties are most frequent on Sunday, next is Saturday, then Wednesday, as for injuries. Damage reports are greatest on Monday, then decrease on most other days until reaching the lowest number on Saturday. The existence of more casualties on the weekend suggests that recreation is a factor on those days. It is difficult to understand why there are more damage reports on weekdays, but this trend could result from reports in newspapers that do not publish every day. 9. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS Florida led the nation in actual deaths and injuries. The largest number of damage reports came from Pennsylvania. There were large variations among decades in both casualties and damages. When population was taken into account, Wyoming and New Mexico led the nation in death, injury, and casualty rates. The highest rate of damage reports was on the plains from North Dakota to Oklahoma. Population-weighted casualties and damages decreased until the 1990s, then increased. July maxima existed for all lightning reports. Casualties had a strong July maximum, while damage reports were spread more evenly through the year. Casualties and damages in northern states had narrower distributions centered on summer than those in states to the south. Two-thirds of the casualties occurred between 1200 and 1600 LST. Casualties increased steadily to a maximum at 1600 LST, followed by a somewhat faster decrease. Damage reports lagged casualties by two to three hours. There were relatively frequent damage reports at night in plains and midwest states. For incidents involving deaths (injuries) only, 91% (68%) of the cases had one fatality (injury). The dominance of single-person events shows the need for lightning safety education so that people take personal responsibility for their own threat from lightning. REFERENCES Andrews, C.J., 1995: Keraunomedicine: A discipline come of age. Annals of Emergency Medicine, 25, 543-545. -, M.A. Cooper, M. Darveniza, and D. Mackkerras, 1992: Lightning injuries: Electrical, medical, and legal aspects. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 195 pp. Bennett, B.L., 1997: A model lightning safety policy for athletics. J. Athletic Training, 32, 251-253. Cherington, M., 1995: Central nervous system complications of lightning and electrical injuries. Sem. Neurology, 15, 233-240. -, E.P. Krider, P.R. Yarnell, and D.W. Brreed, 1997: A bolt from the blue: Lightning strike to the head. Neurology, 48, 683-686 Coates, L., R. Blong, and F. Siciliano, 1993: Lightning fatalities in Australia, 1824-1991. Natural Hazards, 8, 217-233. Cooper, M.A., 1995: Myths, miracles, and mirages. Sem. Neurology, 15, 358-361. -, and C.J. Andrews, 1995: Lightning injuuries. In Wilderness Medicine, P. Auerbach, ed., 3rd Edition, St. Louis, MO, C.V. Mosby, 261-289. Curran, E.B., R.L. Holle, and R.E. López, 1997: Lightning fatalities, injuries, and damage reports in the United States from 1959-1994. NOAA Tech. Memo. NWS SR-193, 64 pp. Duclos, P.J., and L.M. Sanderson, 1990: An epidemiological description of lightning-related deaths in the United States. Intl. J. Epidemiology, 19, 673-679. -, -, and K.C. Klontz, 1990: Lightning-reelated mortality and morbidity in Florida. Public Health Reports, 105, 276-282. Elsom, D.M., 1993: Deaths caused by lightning in England and Wales, 1852-1990. Weather, 48, 83-90. Ferrett, R.L. and C.F. Ojala, 1992: The lightning hazard in Michigan. Michigan Academician, 24, 427-441. Golde, R.H., and W.R. Lee, 1976: Death by lightning. Proc., Inst. Electrical Engineers, 123, 1163-1180. Gourbière, E., J. Lambrozo, C. Virenque, P. Menthonnex, and J. Cabane, 1997: "Lightning injured people in France" the first French national inquiry with regard to the striking of people - objectives, methods, first results. Proc., Conf. on Lightning and Mountains '97, Chamonix Mont Blanc, France, M71-M83. Holle, R.L., R.E. López, L.J. Arnold, and J. Endres, 1996: Insured lightning-caused property damage in three western states. J. Appl. Meteor., 35, 1344-1351. -, -, R. Ortiz, C.H. Paxton, D.M. Decker,, and D.L. Smith, 1993: The local meteorological environment of lightning casualties in central Florida. Preprints, 17th Conf. on Severe Local Storms and Conf. on Atmos. Electricity, St. Louis, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 779-84. Hornstein, R.A., 1962: Canadian lightning deaths and damage. Meteorological Branch, Dept. of Transport, Canada, CIR-3719, TEC-423, 11 Sept. 1962, 5 pp. Langley, R.L., K.A. Dunn, and J.D. Esinhart, 1991: Lightning fatalities in North Carolina 1972-1988. N. Carolina. Medical J., 52, 281-284. López, R.E., and R.L. Holle, 1995: Demographics of lightning casualties. Sem. Neurology, 15, 286-295. -, and -, 1996: Fluctuations of lightningg casualties in the United States: 1959-1990. J. Climate, 9, 608-615. -, and -, 1998: Changes in the number of lightning deaths in the United States during the twentieth century. J. Climate, 11, 2070-2077. -, -, and T.A. Heitkamp, 1995: Lightning casualties and property damage in Colorado from 1950 to 1991 based on Storm Data. Wea. and Forecasting, 10, 114-126. -, -, T.A. Heitkamp, M. Boyson, M. Cherinngton, and K. Langford, 1993: The underreporting of lightning injuries and deaths in Colorado. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 74, 2171-2178. Mogil, H.M., M. Rush, and M. Kutka, 1977: Lightning---An update. Preprints, 10th Conf. on Severe Local Storms, Omaha, NE, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 226-230. Orville, R.E., and A.C. Silver, 1997: Lightning ground flash density in the contiguous United States: 1992-95. Mon. Wea. Rev., 125, 631-638. Pakiam, J.E., T.C. Chao, and J. Chia, 1981: Lightning fatalities in Singapore. The Meteor. Mag., 110, 175-187. Primeau, M., G.H. Engelstatter, and K.K. Bares, 1995: Behavioral consequences of lightning and electrical injury. Sem. Neurology, 15, 279-285. Vavrek, R.J., R.L. Holle, and R.E. López, 1999: Updated lightning safety recommendations. Preprints, 8th Symp. Education, Dallas, TX, Amer. Meteor. Soc. Walsh, K.M., M.J. Hanley, S.J. Graner, D. Beam, and J. Bazluki, 1997: A survey of lightning policy in selected Division I colleges. J. Athletic Training, 32, 206-210. Zegel, F.H., 1967: Lightning deaths in the United States: A seven-year survey from 1959 to 1965. Weatherwise, 20, 169-173, 179. SELECTED INCIDENTS FROM THE "IT CAN'T HAPPEN TO ME" LIBRARY. source: National Weather Service: "Storm Data" Statistics. Four people were struck by lightning, two injured seriously, at a golf course in the Long Island Community about 3 miles northeast of Bridgeport. The people were taken by Life Force helicopter to Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga. The four had been playing golf when it began raining, and they were standing under a tree at the number 5 green. A man was critically hurt by a lightning strike while walking on Haulover Beach. A 28-year old man suffered minor injuries and temporary blindness when lightning struck just outside the window from which he was viewing a thunderstorm. Lightning struck and caused minor damage to the Westside day care center. The lightning entered the center through the air conditioning system and followed the duct work through the house. As the electricity passed through the house, it sought a ground near a closet and made a pencil thin hole in the sheetrock as it went to a metal clothes rod. The lightning hit clothes, hangers, ran through the pipe then jumped through another wall and into another closet. Damage from the lightning was confined to burnt clothes in the two closets. A 56-year-old man was killed by lightning just south of Eagle Grove in Wright County. He and his 54-year-old wife were riding a motorcycle and had stopped to put on their rain gear. Lightning struck the man in the head, striking his helmet. The secondary strike hit his wife. They were taken to the hospital. He was in critical condition and subsequently died. She was in fair condition. Lightning striking a tree next to a home in Park Township destroyed electrical equipment and appliances in the home and caused minor injuries to a child who suffered mouth burns from her braces. Lightning struck a barn full of hay at the Shamrock Farm near Winfield for the second time in 10 days. The barn burned to the ground. Seven persons were struck and injured by lightning in Lower Oxford Township while attending a family reunion. Lightning apparently struck a tree and then bounced from it to the party tent under which they were standing. Lightning killed two women and injured one man in separate incidents. A 42-year-old man was injured in Ricketts State Park when lightning struck a tent he was hiding in . Lightning entered through his right shoulder and exited through his right foot. Farther southeast in Moon Lake park in Plymouth Township two women were struck and killed by lightning while taking shelter under a pavilion. Lightning also split two of the pavilion's six support posts. One woman was so badly struck that she received third degree burns over 35% of her body, had two quarters fused in her pocket and the zipper to her jeans was melted. The Journal of strange phenomena Lightning burned holes in victims toes Reported by Mark Bowen Seen in The Electronic Telegraph on 4/7/96 TEN people hit by a single lightning strike had small holes burned into the tips of their toes in a pattern of injury never before recorded. The holes, about the size of a match-head, were on each toe and at one inch intervals around the soles of the victims' feet. Doctors said they were probably caused as the electricity from the lightning left their body. The highly characteristic nature of the injuries - which doctors have named "tip-toe signs" - may lead to a better understanding of how powerful electrical discharges affect the body. The injuries were found by a plastic surgeon who examined a group of children and adults among 17 people hit by lightning last September in what is thought to be Britain's biggest multiple lightning strike. They were sheltering under a tree when rain interrupted a schoolboy football match at Aylesford, Kent. Fahmy Saad Fahmy, who was then registrar in plastic surgery at the burns unit in St Andrew's Hospital, Billericay, Essex, examined 11 of the victims. Their injuries included cardiac arrest, paralysis of the legs, burns, ear drum rupture, confusion and psychological trauma. All recovered, but the most striking feature was that 10 of the 11 had the small holes on their feet. Mr Fahmy, now at Bradford Royal Infirmary, said the exact mechanism of the unusual injuries was not fully understood but he said that lightning probably affected small peripheral nerves and blood vessels. He said: "It was the only common feature of the injuries suffered and may be a characteristic sign of lightning injuries. It has never been recorded, but may be an injury which has been overlooked." One of the victims, Jackie Hunt, of Penenden Heath, Kent, said: "They were round dots, darker in the centre, on the tips of the toes and round the sides of the feet. They went quite deep and were fairly painful. "I was in my hospital bed when they took photographs of them. I don't think the hospital staff had seen anything like it before." LITTLE-KNOWN LIGHTNING INFORMATION -from the National Lightning Safety Institute 1.THE AVERAGE DISTANCE BETWEEN SUCCESSIVE FLASHES IS GREATER THAN PREVIOUSLY KNOWN. Old data said successive flashes were on the order of 3-4 km apart. New data shows half the flashes are some 9 km apart. The National Severe Storms Laboratory report concludes with a recommendation that: "It appears the safety rules need to be modified to increase the distance from a previous flash which can be considered to be relatively safe, to at least 10 to 13 km (6 to 8 miles). In the past, 3 to 5 km (2-3 miles) was as used in lightning safety education." Source: Separation Between Successive Lightning Flashes in Different Storms Systems: 1998, Lopez & Holle, from Proceedings 1998 Intl Lightning Detection Conference, Tucson AZ, November 1998. 2.A HIGH PERCENTAGE OF LIGHTNING FLASHES ARE FORKED. Many cloud-to-ground lightning flashes have forked or multiple attachment points to earth. Tests carried out in both the USA and Japan verify this in at least half of negative flashes and more than seventy percent of positive flashes. Present day lightning detectors may not be able to discriminate between the several forks from the same flash. Source: Termination of Multiple Stroke Flashes Observed by Electro- Magnetic Field: 1998, Ishii, et al. Proceedings 1998 Int'l Lightning Protection Conference, Birmingham UK, Sept. 1998. 3.LIGHTNING CAN SPREAD OUT SOME 60 FT. UPON STRIKING EARTH'S SURFACE. Radial horizontal arcing has been measured at least 20 m. from the point where lightning enters the earth. Depending upon soils characteristics, safe conditions for people and equipment near lightning termination points (ground rods) may need to be re-evaluated. Source: 1993 Triggered Lightning Test Program: Environments Within 20 meters of the Lightning Channel and Small Are Temporary Protection Concepts: 1993, SAND94-0311, Sandia Natl Lab, Albuquerque NM. Lightning Injury Facts Myths, Miracles, and Mirages Mary Ann Cooper, MD An article about both lightning and electrical injuries Adapted from Seminars in Neurology, Volume 15, Number 4, December 1995 Copyright © 1995 (Permission for use on this page kindly granted by Thieme Medical Publishers Inc.) Injuries from man-made, generated, or "technical" electricity have been reported for only about 150 years; but injuries from lightning must surely predate written records. Depictions of lightning affecting people or events appear in writings and drawings from almost every ancient religion. Although such an occurrence was sometimes interpreted as a positive sign of blessing, more often it was seen as a sign of the god's warning or vengeance. Priests, the earliest astronomers and meteorologists, became proficient at weather prediction, interpreting changes in weather as omens of good or bad fortune, sometimes to the advantage of their political mentors. Observations of lightning and other natural phenomena were often used to decide matters of state, the scheduling of battles or other events. Lightning from the east was usually seen as a good omen. This is reasonable because it is probably the end of a storm. Lightning from the west was ominous, but also meant a storm was probably approaching. Disclaimer: This article is not meant to be a scientific treatise but to be entertaining and perhaps enlightening (no pun intended since it is a different spelling). I am giving my best reply to these myths based on 20 years of experience "I will probably never treat a victim of a lightning injury in my practice because they are so rare. " False. It is true that injuries from electrical injuries are probably more common than lightning injuries, especially when low-voltage injuries are included. Best estimates place lightning injuries at somewhere between several hundred and a few thousand per yearn 4 It is common for the victims to avoid medical care initially, hoping that the symptoms will subside in a few hours or days. Most are not admitted to the hospital and thus do not become part of any state hospital admission databank. Lopez and Holle have done some of the best studies on the epidemiology of lightning injuries and I refer you to their articles in these issues and elsewhere. (5,6) It would be unusual to meet a neurologist who has not had at least one patient with complaints referable to an electrical event. Much research remains to be done into the best treatment, the differences between these groups, and long-term effects. "I will probably never treat a victim of a lightning injury in my practice because no one lives to Tall about it." False. In 1980, I published a study of collected literature and found only a 30% mortality.(7) Andrews (8) repeated the study a few years later and calculated it slightly differently at 20%. Both reviews would overestimate the mortality, as case reports will always be biased toward the more severe or interesting cases. Although Holle and Lopez report figures somewhat differently, my best guess on the mortality from lightning would be about 3 to 10% of all incidents. Projecting from numbers of between 75 and 150 reported deaths per year (and many do not get coded appropriately), there may be as many as 750 to 5000 injuries per year. "Nowadays most lightning injuries occur on the golf course. " False. Indeed, a large number are work-related. These include injuries to postal and construction workers and persons using telephones that have not been properly grounded. (5) The numbers of farmers injured has decreased farmers to work larger fields in better-protected vehicles. Injuries during recreation have increased. They occur to joggers, hikers, and campers, as well as golfers. In addition, a significant number of people are injured while participating in team sports. "Some people can attract lightning." Some have called themselves "human lightning rods," claiming that thunderstorms would change course to find them or that they had been struck multiple times. Given my experience with lightning victims, I must say that, although some may suffer little injury from a single strike, the majority have some type of sequela. When one claims to have been hit 20 or more times, the odds of being able to talk about it decrease logarithmically. Would any reasonable person not have enough sense to learn to avoid lightning after the first couple of hits? EFFECTS OF LIGHTNING STRIKE/ELECTRIC SHOCK These effects are what these two issues of Seminars in Neurology are all about: we have tried to address most of the questions that arise about electrical and lightning injuries, and the differences between lightning and electrical injuries and their treatment have been discussed in other articles. Because so little has been studied in these injuries, it is often difficult to sort out the complaints that are real from those that are metaphysical, compensation-related, or due to normal aging. As discussed in the article by Engelstatter and Primeau, (9) a marginally compensated individual may see the injury as the precipitant for all subsequent problems in life. Although the physical and cognitive complaints are sometimes vague and often do not show on standardized testing, nevertheless, they present a consistent complex that is difficult to disbelieve after listening to them for 15 years from people who have nothing to gain from their disability. Even the complaints that we can objectify often have no good treatment, frustrating both the patient and the physician. Among the claims of positive effects of lightning strike (and sometimes electrical injury) are the cures for persons who have been blind, deaf, or had serious illnesses. A few years ago there was a very well-publicized case of an elderly gentleman who was cured of his blindness and deafness by a lightning strike. Those of us who were consulted on this knew that these were hysterical complaints suffered as a result of a truck accident many years before but forbade the press to quote us out of respect for the gentleman. I have had one call from another gentleman who asked if lightning could cause "hyper sexuality" because after his lightning injury he could not seem to get enough sex. While there is a neurological injury that can cause hypersexuality, more commonly lightning and electrical injury causes impotence, as a result of either direct nerve or spinal cord injury or depression. There is one published claim of improved intelligence on psychological testing after a prolonged cardiac arrest in a pediatric patient. A woman in southern Illinois became psychic after suffering a lightning strike while asleep in bed. Reportedly, her powers have been used by police agencies in locating missing persons and solving cases. If remissions or cures of serious illness have occurred, as some have claimed, praise God, and I am happy for them and will not dispute their conclusions, but I cannot explain it by any medical literature, only supposition. The medical literature and medical practice are resplendent with examples of myths that grow out of misread, misquoted, or misinterpreted information and that then continue to be propagated without further investigation, particularly when the author is an individual well-respected for other accomplishments. Not the least of these is the tenet that lightning victims who have resuscitation prolonged for several hours may still successfully recover. This belief seems to be grounded in the old idea of "suspended animation" the concept that lightning is capable of shutting off systemic and cerebral metabolism, allowing rescuers a longer period in which to resuscitate the patient. This concept, credited to the only article that Taussig ever wrote on lightning, actually first appeared in an article that was published quite some time before hers. The case recounted by Taussig that is the basis for this myth, when searched to its source, was a case reported by Morikawa and Steichen, F. While it does show a somewhat longer resuscitation period than usual, it is not as miraculous as reported in her paper or as propagated in subsequent references to it. On the other hand, in a study of lightning survivors, Andrews has shown increasing prolongation of the QT interval, bringing up the theoretical possibility of toursades as a mechanism for the suspended animation reports.' Theoretically, if lightning hit at the right instant of the QRS interval, a toursades type of rhythm might occur, not only supplying minimal cerebral perfusion, but also perhaps resolving spontaneously. Toursade certainly has a better prognosis than fibrillation or asystole. There is new evidence from animal experiments to support the teaching that respiratory arrest may persist longer than cardiac arrest. (13,14) This study, in which Australian sheep were hit with simulated lightning strokes, showed histologic evidence of greater damage to the respiratory centers than the cardiac center in the medulla. Prolonged assisted ventilation may then, in some cases, be successful after cardiac activity has returned. Among the myths about negative effects is the "crispy critter" myth.(3) This is the belief that the victim struck by lightning bursts into flames or is reduced to a pile of ashes. In reality, lightning often flashes over the outside of a victim, sometimes blowing off the clothes but leaving few external signs of injury and few, if any, burns. Two other myths held by the lay public as well as many physicians that are particularly harmful to the lightning survivors are, "If you're not killed by lightning you’ll A be OK" and, "If there are no outward signs of lightning injury, the injury can't be serious.(8) The medical literature, by lack of follow-up case reports, implies that there are also few permanent sequelae of lightning injury. However, in the last few years, it has become apparent that permanent sequelae may and often do occur. In addition, both lightning and electrical victims with significant sequelae may have no evidence of burns. While the effects of amperage and voltage have been studied in animals, the effect of frequency, radio waves, and body impedance, as well as other effects, have not been elucidated well enough for us to be able to explain many injuries. A myth that is still prevalent today is that the victim of lightning retains the charge and is dangerous to touch, since he is still "electrified " This idea has led to unnecessary deaths because of delaying resuscitation efforts. Many patients, particularly those without external signs of injury, have been told, most often by medical professionals, that they have "internal burns" that are the cause of their problems. This is both a misnomer and an oversimplification for the cellular, vascular, biochemical, or other types of damage they may have incurred. So many questions need to be investigated in lightning and electrical injuries. "Lightning is a sign from God. " I can claim no inside track on this one. Ancient Romans saw Jove's thunderbolts as a sign of condemnation and denied burial rites to those killed by lightning. Andeans hold similar beliefs and may ostracize the victim. In some cultures, medicines are made from stones that are believed to be a result of lightning strike. Roman, Hindu, and Mayan cultures all have myths that mushrooms arise from spots where lightning has hit the ground.(5) In the poly-ethnic United States, belief in "fate" or "God's will" may affect how family, friends, or coworkers relate to the victim or how the victim feels about himself and his recovery. Some patients may have already consulted a healer before finally seeking the advice of a physician and in rare instances it may be difficult to treat a patient unless the help of a shaman or priest is employed to address the religious issues while the physician addresses the physical ones. PREVENTION /AVOIDANCE "Wearing a rubber raincoat (substitute sneakers or other forms of clothing here) will decrease my chances of being hit." Conversely: "Wearing cleated shoes increases my chances of being struck." False, and probably false. The first is easy to dispel: if lightning has burned its way through a mile or more of air (which is a superb insulator), it is hardly logical to believe that a few millimeters of any insulating material will be protective. The second is a subject of contention but I tend to believe that there would be little effect from whatever is on the bottom of your feet. Certainly metal on the bottom of the feet can heat up and cause secondary burns, but it is unlikely to "draw" lightning to the person. "I am safe in a car because the rubber tires protect me." True and False. True because there have been no documented lightning deaths that have occurred in a hard topped metal vehicle with the windows rolled up. However, the composite tires have little, if any, part in this, for the same reasons as those just discussed with regard to insulation. The safety has to do with the fact that electrical current travels along the outside of a conductor (the metal body of the car) and dissipates to the ground through paths that include the tires and the rainwater. "Wearing metal in my hair increases my chances of being hit. " Questionable, although opinions exist both ways. Hairpins (who uses those anymore?) may be safe; metal helmets may not. The issue needs more study (and more publication). Kitigawa has shown fairly conclusively with dummies that metal about the head does not increase the likelihood of being hit (unless it projects far above the head, increasing the person's height). "Carrying an umbrella increases my risk of being hit. " True. Increasing your height by any amount increases your chances of being hit by a calculable amount, although a prospective, population-based, double-blind, randomized study has not been done to prove this, nor has the composition (metal versus composite or plastic) of the umbrella or one-iron been studied. Other dangerous things to avoid: avoid being the highest object anywhere, be it a beach, small open boat, pier, meadow, or ridge. Avoid being under a lightning rod (except when inside a substantial habitable building that is protected) or standing near a metal fence, underground pipes, or other metallic paths that can transmit lightning energy from a nearby strike. Avoid swimming, because lightning energy can be transmitted through the water to you. Sailboats should be equipped with adequate lightning protection systems. "When outdoors, I should stay away from trees." Mostly true. Certainly you should stay away from the tallest trees, which are more likely to be hit and side-flash or splash to you. However, one would not want to become the tallest object in an area by standing in a meadow, either. Making the shortest, smallest target is probably the best answer if caught in the open. If you are in a forested area, it may be wise to pick an area of dense growth of saplings or smaller trees, rather than either a large meadow or tall trees. If on a ridge, get to a lower area. Seeking shelter in a substantial building when possible is advisable. The sheds on golf courses, unless adequately protected by a lightning mitigation system, are potentially more dangerous because they offer height but little protection and lightning may splash from a hit to the shelter onto the inhabitants. "When lightning hits the ground nearby, it is 'grounded ' and I am safe. " Totally and absolutely FALSE. Despite the fact that we call the earth a "ground," it is very difficult to pump electricity into the ground. Most "earth" is a very good insulator. When lightning hits the ground, it spreads out along the surface and first few inches of the ground in increasing circles of energy called "ground current." If it contacts a fence or a water pipe or wire entering a house it can be transmitted for quite a distance and cause injury to persons near these paths. People, being bags of electrolytes, are better transmitters of electrical current than most ground is, and many are injured by ground current effect each year as the lightning energy surges up one leg that is closer to the strike and down the one further away. "My mother always told me to stay off the telephone (out of the bath tub, away from windows, unplug the appliances, etc.) during a thunderstorm. " Good advice, if not always practical. Again, the ground current effect of energy transmitted into the structure along wires or pipes may find the person a better conduit to ground.(3,4) Many injuries occur every year to telephone users inside the home. One of the biggest new areas of consumer fraud has to do with claims of loss of "valuable" databases on computers damaged by lightning.(5) "Lightning only occurs with thunderstorms." Most people know to seek shelter once the storm clouds roll overhead. Few realize that one of the most dangerous times for a fatal strike is before the storm. Lightning may travel as far as 10 km nearly horizontally from the thunderhead and seem to occur "out of the clear blue sky" or at least when the day is still mostly sunny. The faster the storm is traveling and the more violent it is, the more likely this is to occur. Another time underestimated for its potential danger is the end of a thunderstorm.(2-6) And last but not least, "Lightning never strikes the same place twice." In reality, the Empire State Building and the Sears Tower get hit thousands of times a year, as do mountain tops and radio-television antennas. If the circumstances facilitating the original lightning strike are still in effect in an area, then the laws of nature will encourage lightning strikes to continue to be more prevalent there. After all, that is the reason that lightning protection systems are required on many public buildings (including hospitals) by building codes. REFERENCES 1. Prinz: Lightning in history. In Golde RH, ed. Lightning, Vol 1. San Francisco: Academic Press, pp1-20, 1977. 2. Uman MA. All about lightning. New York: Dover, pp 1-160, 1986. 3. Cooper MA, Andrews CJ: Lightning injuries. Auerbach P ed. Wilderness Medicine, Management of Wilderness and Environmental Emergencies, 3rd ed. St. Louis: CV Mosby, pp 261-89, 1995. 4. Andrews CJ, Cooper, MA, ten Duis HJ, Sappideen C. The pathology of electrical and lightning injuries. In Wecht CJ, ed. Forensic Sciences, release 19 update. New York: Matthew Bender & Co., 1995:23A-3-23A-165 5. Lopez RE, Holle RL, Heitkamp TA. Deaths, injuries, and property damage due to lightning in Colorado from 1950 to 1991 based on Storm Data. In National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Technical Memorandum ERL NSSL-103 6. Holle RL, Lopez RE, Ortiz R. et al. Cloud-to-ground lightning related to deaths, injuries and property damage in central Florida. In Proceedings, International Conference on Lightning and Static Electricity, October 6~, Atlantic City, NJ, FAA Report No. DOT/FAA/CT-92/20,66-1-66-12, 1992. 7. Cooper MA. Lightning injuries: prognostic signs for death. Ann Emerg Med 9:134-8, 1980. 8. Andrews CJ, Darveniza M, Mackerras D. Lightning injury a review of clinical aspects, pathophysiology and treatment. Adv Trauma 4:241-52, 1989. 9. Primeau M, Engelstatter GH, Bares KK Behavioral consequences of lightning and electrical injury. Semin Neurol 15:279-85, 1995. 10. Taussig H. "Death" from lightning and the possibiliq of living again. Ann Intern Med 68:1345-50, 1968. 11. Morikawa S. Steichen F. Successful resuscitation after "death" from lightning. Anesthesia 21:222-3, 1960. 12. Andrews CJ, Colquhoun DM, Darveniza M. The QT interval in lightning injury with implications for the 'cessation of metabolism' hypothesis.J Wilderness Med 4:155-66, 1993. 13. Andrews CJ, Darvenia M: Effects of lightning on mammalian tissue. Proceedings, 1989 International Conference on Lightning and Stahc Electricity, Sept 26 28, Bath, England, 4A.4.1-4A.4.4, 1989. 14. Andrews CJ, Darveniza M. New models of the electrical insult in lightning strike. Proceedings, 9th International Conference on Atmospheric Physics, St. Petersburg, Russia, 1992. 15. Lowy B. Amanita muscaria and the thunderbolt legend in Guatemala and Mexico. Mycologia 66:188-90, 1974. 16. Ackerman L. Personal communication, Price-Hollingsworth Company. MASTERY, MYSTERY AND MYTHS OF LIGHTNING Early Greeks believed that lightning was a weapon of Zeus. Thunderbolts were invented by Minerva the goddess of wisdom. Since lightning was a manifestation of the gods, any spot struck by lightning was regarded as sacred. Greek and Roman temples often were erected at these sites, where the gods were worshipped in an attempt to appease them. The Moslems also attributed lightning and thunder to their god. The Koran says "He it is who showeth you lightning and launches the thunderbolts." Scandinavian mythology alludes to Thor, the thunderer, who was the foe of all demons. Thor tossed lightning bolts at his enemies. Thor also gave us Thurs-day. In the pantheistic Hindu religion, Indra was the god of heaven, lightning, rain, storms and thunder. The Maruts used the thunderbolts as weapons. Umpundulo is the lightning bird-god of the Bantu tribesmen in Africa. Even today their medicine men go out in storms and bid the lightning to strike far away. The Navajo Indians hold that lightning has great power in their healing rituals. Sand paintings show the lightning bolt as a wink in the Thunderbird's eye. Lightning is associated with wind, rain and crop growth. Even Santa Klaus gets into the act with his reindeer Donner (thunder) and Blitzen (lightning). A convenience store clerk was so stunned to see a completely naked man walk into the Big Apple store in Portland, Maine, at 4am during a snowstorm that he didn't notice the 3ft (1m) sword that he was carrying. Michael Hicks, 29, came into the store on 22 March and walked to a beer cooler without saying a word. The clerk asked Hicks to leave, whereupon he raised the double-edged sword and pointed it at the clerk's chest, saying: "I'm thirsty." The clerk raised his hands and backed away. As he called the police, Hicks left the store without taking anything. He walked a few blocks before being spotted by the police. He was arrested without a struggle. Police told him to keep away from the Big Apple store, whether he had clothes on or not. [AP] 24 Mar 1997. Auckland - A collision with a coffee table has restored the sight of a New Zealand woman a decade after she was declared permanently blind. Lisa Reid, 24, lost her sight 10 years ago after developing a brain tumour, the New Zealand Herald reported on Saturday. But earlier this month, Reid knocked her head while bending down to kiss her guide dog Ami good night. When she woke the following morning, she could see. Doctors could offer no explanation for the recovery but said Reid had regained 80 percent sight in her left eye. Unsure if her sight would last, Reid waited a few hours before telephoning her mother and reading aloud the health warning on a packet of cigarettes to her to prove she could see again. - Reuters ©2000. All rights strictly reserved. Independent Online is a wholly owned subsidiary of Independent News & Media.Reliance on the information this site contains is at your own risk. Please click here to read the user agreement. SHOP TILL YOU DROP A busload of Russian shoppers refused to break off their trip to Poland when one of them died of a heart attack. They tried to get the man buried on the spot, but the Polish authorities wouldn't allow it; so they continued bargain-hunting for days, while leaving the corpse on a back-seat. MAKING WHOOPEE Harold Brown rushed past a security guard at the 48- storey Transamerica pyramid in San Francisco, calling out "I want to see the man at the top. I've been sent by God!" Followed by the guard, he sprinted to the 29th floor, spat at witnesses and jumped 300 feet down an airshaft. Shouting "whoopee!" all the way down, he landed on a concrete floor at an estimated 100mph, his t-shirt and jeans torn off during the fall. He lay unconscious for two minutes, then woke up and laughed. He had broken his thighs, knees and heels, but suffered no internal injuries. In the ambulance he was heard humming "Camptown Races". India's 'dead' come back live and kicking By BARRY BEARAK 2000-10-24 23:53:39 Lal Bihari, founder of the Association of Dead People, learnt he was deceased when he applied for a bank loan in 1975. Proof of identity was required for the transaction. But when Mr Bihari went to Azamgarh, the district capital, he was told that official records listed him as dead, something that had allowed his uncle to inherit his share of the family's ancestral farmland. "Take a look for yourself," said the lekhpal, a bureaucrat who kept the books, Mr Bihari said. He was especially annoyed to hear of it from the bureaucrat, a man he knew well and with whom he had recently had tea. His legal resurrection was accomplished in 19 years, and in the process, Mr Bihari, a poorly educated merchant, found his mission in life: championing the cause of the similarly expunged. In July, a High Court judge found that there were dozens of such cases of bogus mortality. He ordered the state of Uttar Pradesh to publish advertisements seeking out the living dead, and then to revive them in the public records. "As the bureaucrats once feared the devil, they now fear the Association of Dead People," said Mr Bihari, 45. It is still too early to estimate how many of the legally dead are alive, but most of the known cases involve intra-family fraud and the reason for the infighting comes from a shortage of land. India has more than one billion people and as property has been repeatedly subdivided among ever more heirs, some farmers are left to eke out a living with plots no bigger than a tennis court. India suffers from rampant corruption. Bribes are required in the conduct of almost any public business, whether it is getting the electricity turned on or filing a court case. Mr Bihari said he discovered that his own phoney demise had cost his uncle about $A47.50, not an inconsiderable sum when a hitman can be hired for half as much. "I contacted lawyers, and they told me that what had happened was nothing unusual, but that to fight it in court would take a long, long time," he said. He tried to get arrested, he ran for office, he sued people - anything to get his real name on the public record. By 1994, the land revenue records were corrected, and Mr Bihari's name was fetched from oblivion. NEW YORK TIMES This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/news/20001025/A5104-2000Oct24.html Behavioral Consequences of Lightning and Electrical Injury Margaret Primeau, Ph.D., Gerolf H. Engelstatter, Ph.D., A.B.M.P., I.A.B.C.P., and Kimberly K Bares, M.S. Seminars in Neurology, Volume 15, Number 3, September 1995 Copyright © 1995 Department of Psychology, Finch University of Health Sciences/The Chicago Medical School, North Chicago, Illinois, and Carolina Psychological Health Services, Jacksonville, North Carolina Immediate manifestations in survivors of lightning and electrical injuries include altered consciousness, confusion, disorientation, and amnesia.(1,2) Subsequently, patients show either normalization of mental status or sequelae ranging from headaches and distractibility to persistent psychiatric disorder and dementia. (3,4) The fact of this variety has been recognized for a long time. (5) Behavioral effects have been described in numerous case reports (3); research, however, has been relatively scant and subject to a number of shortcomings. (6) These include sampling bias and heterogeneity, cross-sectional rather than longitudinal or prospective evaluation, and inadequate assessment and analysis of premorbid factors and concurrent psychopathology. We are as yet unable to predict from the "magnitude" of an electrical or lightning injury what the combination or duration of behavioral sequelae will be among survivors. As these shortcomings are remedied (6,8) knowledge of the prevalence and nature of morbidity will permit more effective clinical care. At present, however, our understanding is only partial; clinicians, attorneys, employers, and families continue to puzzle over the problems of lightning and electrical injury patients, who in turn wonder what is wrong and who can help . In this article, we discuss selected literature and present original findings with the aim to address four main questions: 1. What are the behavioral (cognitive and psychologic) sequelae among survivors of lightning injury (LI) and electrical injury (EI)? 2. Do LI and EI differ in outcome? 3. What models of brain-behavior disturbance best describe morbidity in LI and EI? 4. What recommendations for assessment and treatment can we make? LITERATURE Empirical studies that focus on assessment and outcome in LI and EI are described in Table 1 (4,7,9-16). Since the methods and findings are diverse, prevalence rates for various problems remain to be clarified. A few studies assessed the frequency of self-reported problems in special cohorts. For instance, Shaw and York-Moore (9) surveyed 28 of the 50 people injured by lightning in the 1955 Ascot incident in England, and Andrews and Darveniza recently studied telephone-mediated lightning injury in Australia among 132 persons contacted retrospectively (13) and 10 identified at the time of their injury.(14) In these reports, 10 to 20% of patients exhibited psychologic problems. In contrast, from a consecutive series of electrical injury patients admitted to a burn unit, Grossman et al (7) selected a sample of 16 characterized by intermediate severity for a prospective study of psychiatric sequelae. They found "persistent neurobehavioral disorder" in 75% of those whose injury was by direct current. In the remaining studies in Table 1, the individuals came to attention because of their complications, and almost all of them showed abnormalities such as depression and memory impairment. (4,10-12,15,16) NEUROPSYCHOLOGIC FINDINGS The neuropsychologic deficits associated with LI and EI tend to be nonspecific and to resemble those of traumatic brain injury.(4,17) While disturbances of language, awareness, or visuospatial functions seem to be rare, impairments of attention, concentration, verbal memory, and new learning are very frequently identified.(7,10, 12,13,15,16) Survivors may thus experience a reduced capacity to function, both occupationally and socially, and may complain of forgetfulness, inefficiency, and inability to handle even mildly stressful situations. These new obstacles and sense of loss may contribute to psychologic disorders, which in turn affect cognition. The prediction of impairment from initial injury factors is imprecise. First, the subacute course in LI and EI is quite variable, with some patients returning to premorbid status and others experiencing persistent impairments. Progressive impairment has also been reported, such as the cases with dementia listed in Table 1 from Daniel et al (4) and Troster and Ruff.(12) Second, such variables as voltage level or whether loss of consciousness occurred do not correlate with neuropsychologic profiles.(4,17) For example, case descriptions of LI indicate that neither cardiac arrest nor gross central nervous system (CNS) lesions necessarily predict poor outcome.(18) Also, although both of the EI patients described who deteriorated had sustained high-volt-age injuries (more than 8000 V), such poor outcome was not the rule within high-voltage groups. For instance, data from an archival study of 90 EI cases (19) suggested good outcome in 56% of patients receiving high-voltage injuries (compared to 91% of patients receiving low-voltage injuries), at least in terms of resolution of CNS symptoms observed during inpatient care. In EI and LI cases with persistent cognitive deficits, poor memory is a common complaint, and emotional distress is also prominent. In an investigation of memory functioning after EI, Bares (20) compared 20 patients early in their course (between I and 57 days after injury) to 20 patients with late sequelae (9 months to 4 years post-injury) on a 280 measure of verbal memory that differentiates the components of acquisition, retention, and retrieval.(21) The groups were matched on age, sex ratio, years of formal education, and estimated premorbid intelligence. Within-group variability was high, and mean group differences on index scores were not significant. Relative to normative expectations, however, 56% of subjects in the acute group and 68% of subjects in the post-acute group had component scores in the impaired range (lower than 1 standard deviation below the mean). Thus, both early and late EI were associated with a deficit in verbal memory, with the late EI group tending to be worse. Acquisition and retrieval were more affected than retention, as is seen in the so-called subcortical syndromes as well as in affective disorders. When self-report of depression was analyzed, (22) the post-acute group showed a significantly higher frequency of symptoms of depression, but this variable did not account for memory performance. Furthermore, neither involvement in litigation nor history of loss of consciousness ac-counted for memory results in this study, suggesting independence of memory impairment from individual differences in initial injury, affective status, and money issues. Taken together, these findings provide some support for the phenomenon of delayed or progressive decline of cognitive and emotional functioning after EI. Prospective serial assessment of memory function and affective status is needed to establish the frequency of decline. Since the subjective experience of poor memory may arise from other cognitive or emotional factors such as distractibility or fatigue, these should also be assessed.(23) The lack of obvious correspondence between neuropsychologic deficits and in-jury variables or other individual differences highlights the need for thorough evaluation. PSYCHOLOGIC MORBIDITY The studies cited in Table 1 describe a variety of emotional problems, ranging from anxiety to marital break-down to major depression, and illustrate several main features of late psychologic sequelae: they are variable in severity and duration, they are difficult to predict from injury parameters, and their etiology is not readily inferred. For example, such reported difficulties as sleep disturbance, memory deficit, depression, sexual dysfunction, and chronic pain, as well as weakness, dizziness, and confusion may arise from neurologic injury, psychologic reaction, or from the subtle interrelationship between the two. Among EI studies, single-case reports involved high-voltage exposure while the remaining samples were heterogeneous for volt-age level. HEIDI: Beck Depression Inventory; CT: computed tomography; EEG: electroencephalogram; MMPI, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (Hs, D, and Hy are clinical scales); NA, not assessed; PNBD, persistent neurobehavioral disorder (organic brain syndrome); PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder. The dilemma of etiologic specificity is illustrated by Engelstatter (24) who reviewed symptom checklists collected retrospectively from 100 lightning strike survivors and 65 electric shock survivors, all of whom presented with chronic sequelae 2 or more years postinjury (mean interval, 4.5 years). Tables 2 and 3 reveal a wide range of complaints in this group, suggesting diffuse dysfunction and varying degrees of potential debilitation. In both the EI and LI samples, nine of ten of the most frequently reported com-plaints are of a variety that may be primarily psychologic in nature or that often reflect a psychologic component. Five of the top 10 are classic symptoms of depression, for both EI and LI patients. Frequencies in Tables 2 and 3 give the impression of diffuse, nonspecific neurobehavioral dysfunction in complicated LI and EI. Cluster analysis was utilized to deter-mine whether subtypes of late outcome could be identified. Since the original questionnaires consisted of more than 70 yes/no items about symptom occurrence, the data were first submitted to factor analysis to identify symptom dimensions. Six factors accounting for 47% of the total variance were extracted. (Explained variance ranged from 27% for the first factor to 3% for the sixth.) The 10 most common symptoms for each injury group are indicated by asterisks. Symptoms in italics are the ones most likely to have an organic basis; etiology for other symptoms may be organic, psychologic, or both. Remaining symptoms loaded weakly on more than one factor. Factor 1 encompassed a variety of neurobehavioral complaints, including depression, fatigue, dizziness, confusion, sleep disturbance, tinnitus, paresthesias, numbness, headaches, and neuropsychologic deficit (decreased attention, memory, and coordination). This constellation may be termed Global." Factor 2 included anxiety, chronic pain, weakness, nightmares, personality change, and suicidal ideation, and may be termed "anxiety reaction." Factor 3 grouped epilepsy and cardiac problems. Factor 4 included paraplegia, aphasia, and physical dependent; this appears to be a "disability" factor. Factor 5 included amputation and various systemic problems. Factor 6 included auditory deficit. Remaining symptoms loaded weakly on more than one factor. Cluster analysis of these factors as well as age for 149 subjects resulted in four subgroups, generally characterized by age and symptom specificity (Table 4). Cluster A (41 % of cases) showed predominance of the "global" and "anxiety reaction" factors. Cluster B (27% of cases) showed predominance of the "global" factor. Cluster C (9% of cases) was characterized by "disability." Cluster D (23% of cases) had amputation/systemic complaints (factor 5). These analyses were not able to isolate subgroups with discrete psychiatric syndromes; 68% of the cases (clusters A and B) are characterized by multiple complaints and distress, the etiology of which is not obvious. The database did not include systematic information about severity of initial injury, onset or duration of dysfunction, results of diagnostic workups, status of compensation claims if any, or premorbid adjust-meet, and the role of these factors in predicting outcome is not known. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SURVIVORS OF LIGHTNING AND ELECTRICAL INJURIES As noted elsewhere in this issue, the mechanisms of injury by lightning strike and electrical shock differ. One might expect a bimodal pattern of outcome in lightning (severe versus mild), but a more continuous distribution of severity of problems in electrical injury, since intensity of current and duration of exposure are variable. The studies with assessment of LI cited in Table l involve only a few cases, (12,15) but these would suggest that, compared to EI, LI has milder and shorter-term neuropsychologic effects. Within LI, milder aftereffects are reported for telephone-mediated injury than LI in the field. (25) Within EI, physical trauma is a function of the mode and duration of exposure, the pathway of current, and the differential resistance of tissues in its path. As noted earlier, voltage level alone is not a reliable predictor. On the other hand, the studies that compared subjects with only flash burns to those experiencing passage of current'" showed clearly worse psychologic outcome for the latter, suggesting that the CNS and systemic effects and not external burns correlated with morbidity. Estimating CNS damage, how-ever, is difficult, since entrance and exit points may not define the actual pathway.(1) Thus, characterizing the difference in injury between cases with better versus worse out-come awaits further study. The question of differences between LI and EI in psychologic outcome was addressed with the data from Engelstatter (Tables 2 and 3). (24) This sample was self-selected and seems to represent the complicated end of the LI and EI spectrum. When scores on symptom factors already described were subjected to discriminant analysis, the EI survivors were differentiated by higher scores on the "global" factor, and the LI survivors were more likely than EI cases to have auditory sequelae (factor 6). Age and sex of subject did not distinguish the groups. Although 30% of the cases in each group were misclassified, suggesting overlap between LI and EI with poor outcome, the discriminant function was statistically significant (p < 0.001), and the finding of greater severity of neurobehavioral and emotional problems in EI than in LI is consistent with the literature. THE QUESTION OF MODELS A number of possibilities have been suggested for models to guide diagnosis and management of LI and EI. They derive from presumptions about the underlying organic injury as well as from similarities in presentation to other syndromes. Precise mechanisms need further study. Sources of injury include the passage of current through the vascular and nervous systems, anoxia associated with cardiac or respiratory arrest, blunt trauma (direct strike or secondary head injury), and peripheral injury (such as burns and tympanic membrane rupture). (2) The mechanisms of injury by lightning and man-made electricity could plausibly underlie the diverse symptoms patients re-port. (2,10,16,20,26) For instance, damage to small blood vessels and to myelin could be associated with delayed onset of pain or sensorimotor loss; traversal by current of hypothalamic and brainstem centers could lead to endocrine and autonomic dysfunction, and so on. Multiple, diffuse com-plaints are not the exception. HEAD INJURY Whether or not primary CNS injury or secondary head injury can be documented, the model of traumatic brain injury seems appropriate (4, 7, 17). Such common complaints in LI and EI as headaches, disturbances of attention and memory, and autonomic dysfunction are consistent with a head injury model. Postconcussion syndrome seems particularly instructive. It is characterized by subtle, nonfocal neuropsychologic deficits such as impairment of concentration and memory, as well as complaints of headaches, dizziness, fatigue, irritability, and depression, in association with a nor-mal neurologic examination.(27) Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of Mild Closed Head Injury have revealed punctate hyperintensities (believed to be axonal shearing) in some cases, and focal contusions, usually in frontal and temporal regions, in others. Functional imaging studies such as positron emission tomography (PET), evoked potential recordings, and autopsy results have also suggested postconcussion brain damage.(27) Recognizing the ambiguities in EI, Grossman et al (7) described "persistent neurobehavioral disorder" (defined as three or more persistent deficits in cognitive, psychomotor, or interpersonal performance) in 12 EI patients followed for 1 year; since only two had positive MRI studies, whereas eight had auditory abnormalities, CNS involvement was considered to be covert compared to peripheral signs and behavioral disturbance. A study of cognitive dysfunction in EI suggests that it is analogous to that in head injury: profiles of neuropsychologic deficits were reported to be similar in eight EI patients and eight head injury patients matched demographically.(6) The head injury model also has the potential to accommodate psychiatric sequelae in EI and LI, since various CNS insults are known to result in concurrent emotional disturbance (such as personality change with cerebral tumor, or depression with left hemisphere cerebrovascular accident). PSYCHOLOGIC DISORDERS A variety of syndromes, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), conversion disorder, major depression, and adjustment disorder,(28) are suggested by the constellation of patients' complaints and have been considered in the literature.(29) The question of whether these are "organic" or "reactive" is a difficult one; for instance, it has been pointed out that the experience of electrical shock is the prototype of one-trial aversive conditioning and a potent inducer of PTSD symptoms. (11,29) Furthermore, when both affective disorder and cognitive impairment are present, it is not initially clear whether one or the other is primary. PTSD shares with the possible presentation of late EI and LI the features of the acute frightening trauma, gradual emergence of psychologic symptoms, the experience of flashbacks, and a tendency to avoid associated stimuli. As noted in Table 1, this is occasionally the formal diagnosis.(7,29) It was actually more commonly diagnosed for persons with flash burns rather than direct exposure to current in the study by Grossman et al.(7) When lightning simultaneously injures several people, a comparison to sequelae of natural disaster may be apt; (30) symptoms of PTSD, if not the full syndrome, may occur along with other reactions such as survivor guilt. Depression is a common finding, as noted in the Eng-elstatter (24) and Bares (20) data as well as in the other studies. Anxiety disorders have also been reported; they include specific forms of phobic disorders related to the initial incident (storm phobias in LI) or to subsequent activity (agoraphobia).(2) Anxiety and depression may be constituents of adjustment disorders as well. Adjustment to an acquired deficit is clearly affected by premorbid factors such as personality and coping style. (31) Obsessional types of persons are prone to brood over all the perceived changes, and brittle types tend to be dissatisfied with intervention efforts. Since risk for injury is a function of occupation and lifestyle, (2,19) the population of victims includes formerly vigorous, independent, and perhaps risk-seeking persons who may resist treatment efforts, or feel humiliated by their limitations. Some survivors attribute all subsequent difficulties in life to the injury and others experience an intolerable threat to their sense of control.(17,25) Emotional distress in turn tends to lower functional capacity, and a cycle of frustration is maintained. EI or LI may also increase risk for substance abuse, mainly through self-medication with alcohol or the overuse of prescription medications. Somatoform disorders (characterized by physical com-plaints that have little or no basis in known medical illness) are also discussed in the literature.(29) Preoccupation with or exaggeration of multiple symptoms raises the question of somatization disorder, although this formal diagnosis is not defined by abrupt onset. Pain disorder has features consistent with complaints in EI and LI and may account for chronicity in some cases. Conversion disorder was de-scribed in the earliest studies (5,9) and remains important in the differential diagnosis. Criteria for conversion disorder (28) include a predisposing event and symptoms that cannot be fully explained by objective testing ("pseudo-neurologic"). As is apparent in Tables 2 and 3, numerous symptoms in EI and LI refer to the nervous system, and without hard signs on the neurologic examination or positive neuroimaging results, etiology is ambiguous. On the other hand, conversion symptoms usually resolve in a matter of weeks, whereas the late complaints in LI and EI may last for months or years. Since conversion and genuine neurologic symptoms often coexist,(28) ruling out neurogenic disorders is difficult and the presumption of a neurogenic component seems wiser. The role of secondary gain is no more or less prominent in the sequelae of EI and LI than in other instances of injury, and in a percentage of cases is likely serving to maintain chronicity, although it falls short of an adequate explanation for the host of symptomatology presented in the literature. Sophisticated neuropsychologic assessment can help identify consciously or unconsciously feigned behavioral deficits. Further research on mechanisms of injury should improve etiologic inferences. A prototype of psychologic disorder is not evident; symptom constellations in individuals may overlap with these formal categories, and presentation may be atypical, with delayed onset or protracted course. As noted in the data presented earlier, we found that 68% of the group with chronic complaints reported multiple neurobehavioral and emotional symptoms that cut across diagnostic categories. The frequency of psychiatric disability is difficult to estimate from the literature, but the cohort and prospective studies in Table 1 suggest that at least 10 to 20% of survivors will experience persistent psychologic sequelae and that a portion of those will have significantly diminished ability to function. Survivors of EI and LI may or may not have demonstrable tissue damage. If they do, appraisal and treatment of disability seem straightforward. However, many patients with histories of electric shock or lightning strike present with atypical or diffuse complaints, especially in the late phase, when etiologic judgments are more difficult. It is this patient group that is most likely to be misdiagnosed, misunderstood, or dismissed by clinicians as malingerers or neurotics. SYNDROME DEFINITION Even though the severity of impairment in late EI and LI is quite variable, clinicians in widely separated treatment settings are familiar with the picture of multiple, diffuse neurobehavioral complaints.(4,24,25) A label for the phenomenon, such as postelectrocution or postelectric shock syn-drome, (24,25) seems warranted. The consistency of observations on postelectric shock syndrome among researchers and clinicians is one validation of the syndrome, whether organic factors, psychogenic factors, or both are its basis. Andrews and Darveniza (13) identified three outcome groups in their retrospective study of telephone-mediated lightning injury. One group (40% of the sample) usually had relatively brief symptoms of 24 hours to 1 week in duration. A second group (50%) reported moderate sequelae up to 3 months postinjury, and a third group (10%) exhibited more severe and continuing disability beyond 3 months. Data reviewed here suggest that a fourth group exists, a group of LI and EI survivors who maintain significant symptomatology beyond 3 years postinjury and per- haps for a lifetime.(24) This group may also be characterized by a greater degree of psychologic overlay in their presentation and level of dysfunction. Our collective experience would suggest that the first 12 months following injury are crucial in the recovery process, with the most substantial gains being observed during that time and subsequent recovery possible up to 36 months postinjury. Then recovery plateaus, and remaining com- plaints reflect chronic dysfunction. Premorbid psychologic adjustment and physical health play an important role in the individual response to injury and the recovery process, as well as in the ultimate extent of disability experienced. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ASSESSMENT AND TREATMENT Medical management is described elsewhere in these issues. Several authors recommend counseling from the outset to explain complications, reassure patients about their course, and head off reactions like PTSD. (1,2,17) Optimal management through the course of EI and LI would include serial, multidisciplinary assessment for systemic, neurologic, and neuropsychologic effects.(6-8) The reality of subtle dysfunction must be recognized; conventional diagnostics such as computed tomographic (CT) scan may be negative, whereas tests emphasizing functional integrity such as measures of regional cerebral blood flow may reveal abnormalities.(8,27) Likewise, in the neuropsychologic assess-meet, reliance should be placed on thorough evaluation of attention/concentration, problem-solving, sensorimotor functions, and component functions of memory rather than on less sensitive measures such as IQ. Feigning of deficits can also be addressed psychometrically. Psychologic assessment should include premorbid history as well as current psychopathology. Corroborative interview with a relative is desirable to characterize change from premorbid levels and identify problems in day-to-day functioning.(6) Neuropsychologic deficits should be tracked, and cognitive retraining provided for persistent problems, as is prescribed in traumatic brain injury.(17) Psychologic difficulties and pain/dysesthesia symptoms may well warrant pharmacotherapy, such as clomipramine or other tricyclics for depression and carbamazopine for neuralgia. (2) Even for cases likely to have substantial or complete recovery, supportive psychotherapy may prevent reactive disorders and facilitate return to previous roles. Anxiety disorders and depression are amenable to behavioral and cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy, respectively. For cases with significant loss of function, the treatment goal would be to assist in adaptation and adjustment to disability. Our clinical impression is that most patients do improve and that the physician has the opportunity to influence outcome through his or her reassurance, patience, and attitude of acceptance.(25) CONCLUSIONS Postelectric shock syndrome is a disorder of persistent cognitive and psychologic disturbances following LI or EI. Cognitive complaints and deficits resemble those in mild to moderate traumatic brain injury. Psychologic disturbances range from specific phobias to major depression and are often associated with multiple somatic complaints referable to the nervous system. The mechanisms of CNS injury are still under study, and the etiology of persistent complaints may be multifactorial. Patients who have not recovered from initial effects after 3 months are at risk for long term sequelae and disability. Evaluation should be interdisciplinary Psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy, and neuropsychologic intervention are often indicated. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We are grateful to Neil H. Pliskin, Ph.D., and the Electrical Trauma Program under the direction of Raphael C. Lee, M.D., at the University of Chicago Medical Center for access to the data reported in the Bares (1994) study. We also thank the members of Lightning Strike and Electric Shock Victims, International for the questionnaire material re-ported in the Engelstatter (1994) study. REFERENCES 1.Cooper MA, Johnson K Electrical injuries. In Rosen P, Barkin RM, Braen CR et al, eds. Emergency medicine, 3rd ed. St. Louis: Mosby-Year Book 1992:969-78 2. Cooper MA, Andrews CJ. Lightning injuries. In Auerbach PS, Geehr ED, eds. The management of wilderness and environmental injuries, 3rd ed. St. Louis: Mosby-Year Book (in 17. press) 3. Cooper MA, Andrews CJ. Clinical presentation of the lightning victim. In Andrews CJ, Cooper MA, Darveniza M, Mackerras D, eds. Lightning injuries: electrical, medical, and legal aspects. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 1992:47-70. 4. Daniel M, Haban OF, Hutcherson WL, Bolter J, Long C. Neuropsychological and emotional consequences of accidental, high voltage electrical shock. Int J Clin Neuropsychol 1985;7:102-6 5. Critchley M. Neurological effects of lightning and of electricity. Lancet 1934;1:68-72 6. Pliskin NH, Meyer GJ, Dolske MC, et al. Neuropsychiatric aspects of electrical injury. A review of Neuropsychological research. Ann NY Acad Sci 1994;720:219-23 7. Grossman AR, Tempereau CE, Brones ME, et al. Auditory and Neuropsychiatric behavior patterns after electrical injury. J Burn Care Rehabil 1993;14:169-75 8. Cooper MA. Postelectrocution syndrome—long term effects of lightning injury. Presented at International Conference on Lightning and the Mountains, Mont Blanc, Chamonix, France, June, 1994 9. Shaw D, York-Moore ME. Neuropsychiatric sequelae of lightning stroke. Br Med J 1957;2:1152-5 10. Hopewell C. Serial Neuropsychological assessment in a case of reversible electrocution encephalopathy. Clin Neuropsy-chol 1983;2:61-5 11. Mancusi-Ungaro HR, Tarbox AR, Wainwright DJ. Posttraumatic stress disorder in electrical burn patients. J Burn Care Rehabil 1986;7:521-5 12. Troster Al, Ruff RM. Accidental high-voltage electrocution: neurobehavioral sequelae in three cases. Presented at National Academy of Neuropsychology meeting, Chicago, November 1987 13. Andrews CJ, Darveniza M. Telephone-mediated lightning in-jury: an Australian survey. J Trauma 1989;29:665-71 14. Andrews CJ, Darveniza M. Special aspects of telephone-mediated lightning injury: an Australian perspective. In Andrews C, Cooper M, Darveniza M, Mackerras D, eds. Lightning injuries: electrical, medical, and legal aspects. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 1992:163-89 15. Frayne JH, Gilligan BS. Neurological sequelae of lightning stroke. In Eadie M, Lander C, eds. Clinical and experimental 31. neurology. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1987:195-200 16. Hooshmand H. Radfar F. Beckner E. The Neuropsychological aspects of electrical injuries. Clin Electroencephalogr 1989;20:111-20 17. Heilbronner RL. Rehabilitation of the Neuropsychological sequelae associated with electrical trauma. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1994;720:224-9 18. Cherington M, Yarnell P. Lammereste D. Lightning strikes: nature of neurological damage in patients evaluated in hospital emergency departments. Ann Emerg Med 1992;21: 19. Grube BJ, Heimbach DM. Acute and delayed neurological sequelae of electric injury. In Lee RC, Cravalho KG, Burke JF, eds. Electrical trauma: the pathophysiological manifestations and clinical management. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992:133-52 20. Bares K Nature of memory deficits in electrical injury patients. Unpublished manuscript 21. Delis DC, Kramer JH, Kaplan E, Ober BA. The California Verbal Learning Test manual. New York: The Psychological Corporation, 1987 22. Beck AT, Steer RA, Garbin MG. Psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory: twenty-five years of evaluation. Clin Psychol Rev 1988;8:77-100 23. Ravdin L, Clements C, Primeau M, et al. Memory functioning in neuroborreliosis. J Int Neuropsychol Soc 1995;1:136 24. Engelstatter GH. Neuropsychological and psychological sequelae of lightning and electric shock injuries. Presented at Fourth Annual Meeting of Lightning Strike and Electric Shock Victims International, Maggie Valley, NC, May, 1994 25. Andrews CJ. Telephone-related lightning injury. Med J Aust 1992;157:823-6 26. Farrell D, Starr A. Delayed neurological sequelae of electrical injuries. Neurology 1968;18:601-6 27. Brown Sit, Fann JR, Grant I. Postconcussional disorder: time to acknowledge a common source of neurobehavioral morbidity. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 1994;6:15-22 28. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 4th ed. Washington DC: American Psychiatric Association, 1994 29. Kelley KM, Pliskin N. Meyer G. Lee RC. Neuropsychiatric aspects of electrical injury. The nature of psychiatric disturbance. Ann NY Acad Sci 1994;720:213-8 30. Dollinger SJ. Psychological management of lightning victims. In Andrews CJ, Cooper MA, Darveniza M, Mackerras D, eds: Lightning injuries: electrical, medical, and legal aspects. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 1992:137-9 31. Kay T. Neuropsychological diagnosis: disentangling the multiple determinants of functional disability after mild traumatic brain injury. In Horn L, Zasler N. eds. Rehabilitation of postconcussive disorders, vol 6. Philadelphia: Hanley & Belfus, 1992:109-27 Record lightning strike left strange marks on skin The Times on 12 Feb 1996 BY JEREMY LAURANCE HEALTH CORRESPONDENT VICTIMS of the world's biggest multiple lightning strike were left with odd skin markings and have shown strange psychological effects since they were injured five months ago. Seventeen people were hit during a pre-season football tournament at Aylesford, Kent. Fourteen of the group were traced by St Andrew's Hospital in Billericay, Essex, the biggest burns unit in Britain. Details of their widely differing injuries were presented to an international meeting in Hong Kong on Saturday. Jim Frame, consultant plastic surgeon at St Andrew's, said: "It was just like Star Wars ­ whoof ­ and their football kit evaporated. There was nothing left." Mr Frame said some of those hit walked away while others suffered heart attacks and had to be resuscitated on the pitch. Many had burns and some had damage to their eyes and difficulty walking. Some later suffered panic attacks, mood swings and depression and one became psychotic. "It is like receiving a huge dose of ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) when a major shock goes through the brain." Among the curious symptoms the medical team had found were miniature haemorrhages on the ends of the toes of those caught in the strike, which they named the tip-toe sign. "It is the first time that has been described," Mr Frame said. Chris and Jackie Hunt and their two sons had their clothes burnt off their backs and suffered a temporary personality change as one million volts of electricity passed through their bodies. Speaking for the first time since the incident, Mr Hunt, who coaches a local boys' football team, said: "There was a sudden downpour. The referee told us to run for shelter so we made for the edge of the pitch near a tree where our kit was. I was holding a large fishing umbrella and the lightning struck the top of it. It travelled through me to the ground and because there was a lot of water on the ground everyone got hit." Mr Hunt, 35, a papermill engineer, said he felt locked to the ground and then felt himself falling. He was uncon scious for 20 minutes. Mrs Hunt, 36, and their son Thomas, 9, went stiff and fell to the ground and eight-year-old son Matthew had a heart attack. He had 17 per cent burns to his back where his football kit had melted. All the family had small burn holes in the soles of their feet.Mr Hunt's hands, where he had been holding the umbrella, were unhurt. Mrs Hunt was paralysed from the waist down for two hours after the strike and had curious symmetrical marks on the skin beneath each breast, possibly because she was wearing an underwired bra. Jill Webb, a junior doctor at St Andrew's who studied the effects of the strike on the family, said lightning tended to travel across the surface of the body, rather than through it. "That is why people don't get killed. Only if it breaches the skin can it cause internal damage, burning muscle and internal organs." About five people a year are struck by lightning in Britain. Dr Webb said the best advice in a thunderstorm was to move away from a high point and lie down. "You don't want to be the tallest object in the area," she said. The safest place to be is inside a car, sitting away from the sides so the charge travels over the surface and through the tyres to the ground. Tyres are good conductors, especially on wet roads.