Lightning caused “rain of sparks and fire” in St. Petersburg

The videos quickly went viral on social media in Russia.

The electric storm that started on Wednesday in Saint PETERSBOURG went viral on social media in Russia due to an unexpected incident when lightning struck a building and caused a “rain of fire” which took passers-by by surprise.

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Security cameras from a bank on Veteranov Avenue and Soldata Korzuna Street recorded the unusual scene: a the flash lit the pedestrians seconds before falling from a cascade of sparks. A person walking with an umbrella was left among the fragments.

Another of the videos that circulated on Telegram shows the recording of a TikTok user filming the storm from his home and he was able to capture with his cell phone the electric shock that caused the sparks. In the distance you can see how lightning caused the explosion.

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There are three versions of the cause of sparks. The first attributes the “rain of fire” to the trolleybus cables that run through the city, but the distance between the building and the avenue indicates that this is not possible. The second hypothesis refers to the explosion of a metal structure on the roof of the building and the last one considers that the telephone cables that communicate with the various buildings have disintegrated when they were struck by lightning.

Although there has been no official statement from city authorities, what is known about the unusual incident is that fortunately none of those affected were injured, despite the fact that one of them was only wearing a t-shirt.

Wednesday’s storm caused extensive damage in the Russian metropolis. The strong wind caused trees, structures and materials to fall on the roofs of buildings. At 9 p.m., fire and rescue units received 75 calls and one person was injured.

The Lightning in thunderstorms occurs due to a potential difference between the electrical charges in the clouds and the ground. When the voltage is high enough, the air is ionized and an electric current flows generating the characteristic flash with the din. The power of the discharges can be so high that the temperature at the impact site can reach 20,000 ° C, three times the value present on the surface of the sun.