Posted on 02/13/2010 10:14:08 AM PST by Free ThinkerNY
PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria (AP) - A police spokeswoman says at least 20 people were killed after a cable fell on a bus and electrocuted the passengers inside.
Spokeswoman Rita Abbey says the death toll could rise further. An Associated Press cameraman saw more than 10 bodies at a local hospital.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
My God, what a horrible way to die that must me.
^be
Rita Abbey says the death toll could rise further
Are people still getting on the bus?
I think they would probably have been OK if they stayed in the bus until the cable was de-energized. It would be hard to be electrocuted inside a vehicle since there’s no place to complete a circuit. You need a return, which would be provided by ground. Contacting the bus which is in contact with the hot cable and the ground at the same time could be fatal. Same thing for bystanders. As long as they didn’t contact the cable or bus they should have been ok.
Yup. There needs to be a return path. Unless the bus was an open vehicle, the bus would act as a Faraday cage, insulating the passengers from electrocution.
Note to self: Stay on the bus until power is removed.
Cheers
This doesn’t make sense to me. The safest place when electricity has become unruly is on a rubber tired platform such as a bus. No grounding= safe. If the people panicked and got off the bus while cable still contacting the bus then bad results. Might be a sheeple or lemming reaction? Don’t know just sounds screwy.
Tragic incident. Pray for the families.
Put sign on bus,
Democrats, free ride to polls.
Have you ever ridden on a Third World bus in a heavy rain? Everybody’s going to be a conductor.
The tires were probably acting as insulators and the passengers completed the circuit when they went out the bus door. ...and more kept following. Not too bright, unless they wanted to be light bulbs.
Shocking.
Did not say if the bus had an open or cloth top through which the cable tore. Or if nothing untoward happened until people attempted to leave the bus, which would have started a panic rush as people began to fall dead while bridging the conductive bus’s shell and the ground.
That’s sick.
It needn't even be insulated to the ground. This is because electricity will take the path of least resistance, which will be through the conductive cage of the bus. The occupants aren't exposed to a significant voltage gradient (e.g., high voltage on the hand, low voltage at the foot), so little current will flow through a human who stays inside the conductive cage, even if the conductive cage is carrying a large current to ground.
That could not possibly happen. Well maybe, if the passengers stepped off the bus into a puddle while holding on to a metal handrail, but they'd have to do it one at a time!
I was driving a car through a thunderstorm when the car took a direct lightning stroke. The view from the windshield was a deep violet glow and the loudest sound I'd ever heard (before or since). It took out the FM radio for about 30 seconds which then recovered, no damage to the car or contents.
Google "Faraday cage" for reference.
Regards,
GtG
Dreadful. RIP.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.