Static electricity wasn’t the cause of the deaths. But that’s not to say that this form of electricity doesn’t have its own dangers.
If you’ve shuffled your feet along a shaggy carpet and then touched a metal doorknob, yo probably experienced a shock. That’s static electricity, which builds up on a person and discharges when the circuit is completed by touching something that can conduct, transmitting the built-up energy.
This is normally a relatively harmless incident -- the shock is minor and soon forgotten by the recipient. But that’s under normal conditions. Under severe circumstances, more than 15,000-volt exchanges have been recorded, and shocks of 5,000 volts are not uncommon. Fortunately, you won’t feel anything from 2,000 volts to 4,000 volts.
Disaster Can Strike
But if there are combustible or flammable substances nearby, the results can be catastrophic. A spark from a human to these sources can result in an explosion that causes serious damage.
In China, a man who was getting dressed experienced terrible consequences, thanks to static electricity. Wen Chung was putting on his clothes for the day, building up static electricity by rubbing his dry skin along the clothes. Unfortunately for Chung, there was a leaky gas pipe nearby, and a spark of electricity hit the line. The result was a gas explosion that resulted in bad burns to his face, neck and hands. A nephew reported the blast was so strong that its impact was felt in a 300-meter radius.