Of course ,it's the "amps" that kills,not voltage.There's no issue about that.
But there are no "amps" without "volts".Ohm's law.(Only in superconductors this is possible,which ain't the case here)
Man can sit on a 110 000 V power line,with no consequences ,as long as you don't close electrical circuit with conducting masses having different potential .Like birds do.Almost nothing you'll feel (except corona discharges perhaps ,due to ionisation of the air becouse of the high field)].
You mention an interesting phenomenon .In HV voltage accidents usually ,very quickly,the arc over the surface of the victim occurs.
And these arc currents are actually "short circuit" fault currents ranging in thousands of amps on high power systems like railway.Causing explosion,burns etc.This happens almost instantly per see ,but it takes surely few cycles for current to choose this path instead to continue thru the body.So...why do you thinkthis happens?
But,the main subject of discussion isn't "how boy survived or what kills".
It's the following question:How far standing he was closest to the power line with his body parts when the arc got him ?
If he was 1 foot or more I think this is well worth investigation,becouse something like that is against what I (and other el. engineers) learned or know about HV flashovers.
Edit
Well,I think maybe I found one possible explanation.At least a part of it.
The boy was wearing boots,right?
IF the boots were made of rubber or some sort of plastic material,than during the walk they can build up static charges by the virtue of friction .See
Triboelectricity.
These static charges can move slowly to the rest of the body,or simply remain residing on the surface of a boot for some time.Clearly,the potential difference between boot and the train cable,in certain positions, can be higher than potential between the cable and ground.Metal parts on boots have importance to allow spark to jump to the boot and to establish a closed electrical circuit/path in certain moment.And how much higher that potential difference can be than nominal power line railway voltage ?I dunno.
I'm too sceptical that the effect proposed can trigger the discharge over 1 foot+ wide gap.For 1' gap distance to break, in most favorable circumstances of pulse and electrode geometry ,it is needed at least 120 000 V (in standard atmosphere).In comparison a sphere-sphere gap with big enough diameter sphere electrodes ,with smooth sufaces, can withstand voltage as high as 800 000 V.Althought ,it sounds like too esoteric theory to me maybe this is a mechanism to be considered too.To think along these lines, the following part of the text in the report , which I provided two posts up ,motivated me:
"The so-called critical distance is the distance between the power source and another grounded subject which may trigger arcing. In moving subjects, such as in our victims, the arcing can be triggered over a longer distance than in static ones.
"
But there are no "amps" without "volts".Ohm's law.(Only in superconductors this is possible,which ain't the case here)
Man can sit on a 110 000 V power line,with no consequences ,as long as you don't close electrical circuit with conducting masses having different potential .Like birds do.Almost nothing you'll feel (except corona discharges perhaps ,due to ionisation of the air becouse of the high field)].
You mention an interesting phenomenon .In HV voltage accidents usually ,very quickly,the arc over the surface of the victim occurs.
And these arc currents are actually "short circuit" fault currents ranging in thousands of amps on high power systems like railway.Causing explosion,burns etc.This happens almost instantly per see ,but it takes surely few cycles for current to choose this path instead to continue thru the body.So...why do you thinkthis happens?
But,the main subject of discussion isn't "how boy survived or what kills".
It's the following question:How far standing he was closest to the power line with his body parts when the arc got him ?
If he was 1 foot or more I think this is well worth investigation,becouse something like that is against what I (and other el. engineers) learned or know about HV flashovers.
Edit
Well,I think maybe I found one possible explanation.At least a part of it.
The boy was wearing boots,right?
IF the boots were made of rubber or some sort of plastic material,than during the walk they can build up static charges by the virtue of friction .See
Triboelectricity.
These static charges can move slowly to the rest of the body,or simply remain residing on the surface of a boot for some time.Clearly,the potential difference between boot and the train cable,in certain positions, can be higher than potential between the cable and ground.Metal parts on boots have importance to allow spark to jump to the boot and to establish a closed electrical circuit/path in certain moment.And how much higher that potential difference can be than nominal power line railway voltage ?I dunno.
I'm too sceptical that the effect proposed can trigger the discharge over 1 foot+ wide gap.For 1' gap distance to break, in most favorable circumstances of pulse and electrode geometry ,it is needed at least 120 000 V (in standard atmosphere).In comparison a sphere-sphere gap with big enough diameter sphere electrodes ,with smooth sufaces, can withstand voltage as high as 800 000 V.Althought ,it sounds like too esoteric theory to me maybe this is a mechanism to be considered too.To think along these lines, the following part of the text in the report , which I provided two posts up ,motivated me:
"The so-called critical distance is the distance between the power source and another grounded subject which may trigger arcing. In moving subjects, such as in our victims, the arcing can be triggered over a longer distance than in static ones.
"
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