Death at the Stadium

Report on the fatal use of an early streamer emission lightning rod in Malaysia

By Z.A. Hartono and I Robiah

On the evening of March 16, 2012, student Mohd Ridwan Jamal was struck and killed by a lightning bolt while he and his friends were about to play football at the Kolej Universiti Islam Melaka (KUIM) mini-stadium. The stadium grandstand had been installed with the early streamer emission (ESE) lightning rod (i.e. air terminal) and the student might still be alive today had he not left the safety of the grandstand.

The manufacturers of the ESE lightning rod had claimed that the rod can attract lightning and hence provide a large protection zone of up to 100 m radius or more, depending on the model and make of the rod. However, this claim did not have a sound scientific basis or the support of lightning experts and scientists who studied them for the past 20 years.

Furthermore, the claim has never been proven by independent scientific studies conducted on the ESE lightning rods. In fact, studies have shown that the rods frequently failed to protect buildings from direct lightning strikes.

Several thousand ESE lightning rods have been sold and installed in the country since the late 1980s. They have mostly been installed on public and private buildings nationwide while several hundreds have been installed on recreation sites such as mini-stadiums, stadiums, school playing fields, golf courses and public parks.

Since 1995, the authors have repeatedly highlighted the fact that the ESE lightning rods were ineffective in protecting buildings against lightning strikes in reports and conference/seminar papers. They have also cautioned that the use of the ESE lightning rod may lead to injuries and fatalities. Ridwan's untimely death has confirmed their worst fears and may not be the first casualty involving an ESE lightning rod.

This report provides the detailed information about the fatal incident at KUIM and highlights the fact that the victim was well within the ESE lightning rod's claimed protection zone when he was struck by lightning.

Click here to continue reading this report sent to us by Hartono in the hopes that this report might be useful for American sports associations as well.