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Holy wow! Lightning strikes famous statue's head

Anthony Sharwood

A Brazilian photographer has captured the stunning moment when lightning struck the head of the famous Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro last Friday evening.

The iconic statue towers 30 metres over its eight-metre pedestal, with its outstretched arms spanning 28 metres. It sits on a mountain called Corcovado, which rises sharply from near sea level to 710 metres.

Completed in 1931, the statue has suffered lightning damage several times in the past, with the most recent repairs conducted after strikes in 2008 and 2014. The 2008 strike destroyed the right thumb.

It is not yet known whether the latest strike has damaged poor old Cristo Redentor (as the locals call it in Portuguese) but this was certainly the first time that an image of lightning striking directly on the head has been widely circulated.

If the statue's made of stone, why does it get struck so often?

The statue is made of reinforced concrete and a type of stone called soapstone, however it has an internal metal framework and there are many nearby antennae, which explains why it attracts lightning.

Meanwhile this event got us thinking about other famous landmarks that had been struck by lightning. We found this image of the Eiffel Tower.

And this one of the Statue of Liberty.

And of course, just a few weeks ago here at Weatherzone, we brought you this image of our very own Sydney Harbour Bridge, which we called Sydney's second fireworks display of 2023!

Image: It was a dark and stormy night... Source: @Philipps.world.of.photography via Instagram.

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