A GROUP of tourists exploring a desert in China have been told they were in “extreme danger” after a video of their hair standing on end went viral.
The terrifying truth behind the video is that the family brushed death in their innocent trip to the Kumtang Desert in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, after it had just rained.
South China Morning PostThe tourists reported that they heard sizzling sounds coming from their phones, and left the area after five minutes[/caption]
“If this ever happens to you. Don’t laugh… run,” one onlooker commented under the video posted by South China Morning Post on YouTube.
“Stay away from metal and tall trees. If there is nothing like that around you, lie down on the ground.”
Another wrote: “Those parents unknowingly put their kids in extreme danger.”
If your hair stands on end, lightning is about to strike you, according to the US National Weather Service (NWS).
Advice from the NWS to people who come into contact with this phenomenon is to “drop to your knees and bend forward but don’t lie flat on the ground. Wet ground is a good conductor of electricity.”
Getting inside a house, large building or all-metal vehicle is also wise.
Other signs that lightning could be about to strike include nearby rocks and fences developing a buzzing or blue glow appearance.
The tourists reported that they heard sizzling sounds coming from their phones, and left the area after five minutes.
“The mere fact that they should’ve known this as electricity and yet they are still holding their phone which increases attraction to lightning strikes,” a third onlooker wrote.
“Could’ve ended pretty badly for them if the odds weren’t in favour that day.”
“THIS IS REALLY DANGEROUS if this ever happens to you, get to lower level, and lie on the ground until it passes, just moving around and disturbing the air can be enough to trigger an avalanche breakdown – lightning.
“If you have a car – as they do – get in the car, cars are safe in lightening.”
A British tourist to the Greek island of Rhodes, 26-year-old Scott Seddon, died in May when struck by lightning while paddleboarding.
The following month football referee Mustapha Bello was killed by a lightning strike during a match in Nigeria.
And earlier this week British woman Natalie Stevens was warned that she too was ‘close to death’ after posting a beach selfie with her hair on end, amid raging storms.
People were quick to point out in the comments of her selfie on Facebook how fortunate she was to survive the experience with stormy weather looming.
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