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Forensic Pathology for Police - Brainshare Public Online Library

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Lightning 461<br />

Fig. 17.18 Dark, pinpoint electrical burns in a high-voltage electrocution case<br />

Fig. 17.19 The boot of a<br />

crane operator whose crane<br />

cable made contact with an<br />

overhead high-voltage wire.<br />

Note the defects and burning<br />

on the boot, as well as the<br />

charring of the skin<br />

immediately above the boot<br />

Lightning<br />

Lightning can be considered a <strong>for</strong>m of very high-voltage direct current electricity.<br />

A lightning bolt is produced when the charged undersurface of a storm cloud discharges<br />

its electrical charge to earth. There are around 100 lightning strike deaths<br />

per year in the USA. Lightning can kill via a direct strike, a “side flash,” wherein<br />

the lightning strikes another object and then “jumps” to the victim, or by conduction<br />

through another object. Finding a body outdoors after a thunderstorm should raise

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