10 Seemingly Harmless Things You Didn't Realise Killed People

10. Icicles

Icicles are cool. Not only are they cold, but they are pretty. Unfortunately, they're responsible for damage and are deadly killers if you fail to show them some respect. It's great when you get up on a frosty morning and look up at the guttering around your home. Hanging just below the snow on the roof, a wall of icicles can sometimes be found glinting in the sunlight. That's not something I need to worry about much where I live, but if you live somewhere cold with snow that hangs about all winter then you had better watch out. Acting like a dam, the icicles can force melting water to back up under the shingles of the house and sometimes into the ceiling. Apart from ice dams they can cause decay and rot, or cause mould and mildew to build up in attics and on wall surfaces. And I wouldn't stand under them for too long, especially not the long heavy variety. In 2010 icicles killed a staggering 150 people in St Petersburg alone as they fell on people around houses and in the city streets. Deaths and injuries included a six-month old baby in her pram, an eight-year old boy that suffered serious spinal injuries after an icicle struck his back, and various other people were speared as the javelin-like objects fell from tall buildings. It is tempting to think of icicles as being lightweight objects, because they are transparent. That would be a mistake. A big icicle of the type found in St Petersburg in 2010 could ordinarily contain 5 gallons, or approximately 19 litres of water. Weighing in around 1 kg per litre that means an icicle might weigh 19kg, or nearly 42lb. Think of it more like the weight of a medium sized dog, forced into the shape of a long sharp cone hurtling towards you out of the sky and you'll have got a better idea of how dangerous icicles can be.