Durunka Floods and Lightning Strike

Date: November 2, 1994 • Location: Manfalūţ, Egypt

A lightning strike ruptured three oil tanks near Dronka, Egypt, causing a flood that killed 469 people.

On 2 November 1994, a lightning strike ignited three diesel and aircraft fuel tanks belonging to the Egyptian Army strategic reserve near the village of Durunka, Asyut Governorate in Egypt. The lightning was part of a severe storm that caused heavy flash flooding and widespread damage in four governorates in Upper Egypt leading to hundreds of deaths and tens of thousands of people made homeless in one of Egypt's worst urban disasters. The flooding compounded with the lightning strike meant flaming oil leaked from the tanks and was carried by floodwater into the village. More than 200 houses were destroyed and 469 people killed.