US: Explosion at Google's data center critically injures 3 people
An "electrical incident" occurred at a Google data center on Monday in Council Bluffs, Iowa, critically injuring three electricians, said the tech giant and the Council Bluffs Police Department. Reports said it was a large electrical explosion that took place at 11:59 am (local time; 10:20 pm IST) on Monday. The injured electricians were reportedly rushed to a nearby medical center for treatment.
What did Google say about the electrical explosion?
"We are aware of an electrical incident that took place...at Google's data center in Council Bluffs, Iowa, injuring three people on site who are now being treated," Google spokesperson Devon Smiley told SFGATE. "The health and safety of all workers is our absolute top priority... we are working closely with partners and local authorities to thoroughly investigate the situation and provide assistance as needed."
Electricians were working at facility when explosion took place
An arc flash (an electric explosion) reportedly took place while the three electricians were operating on a substation near the data center buildings, which resulted in serious burns to all three. One person was flown to Nebraska Medical Center by helicopter, while the other two were shifted via ambulance. Notably, Nebraska Medical Center is located near Council Bluffs, which is on the Iowa-Nebraska border.
What is the medical condition of those injured?
According to the Council Bluffs Police Department, all three electricians were conscious and breathing when they were being taken for treatment. However, several reports indicate they were hospitalized in a critical medical condition. One of the workers had reportedly suffered a lower torso injury, while another suffered severe burns to his left arm and thigh. Meanwhile, the third employee has severe facial burns.
Google outage reported following electrical incident
On Tuesday morning, several Google services, including Search and Trends, experienced widespread outages. Thousands of people flooded social media sites looking to report and seek answers for this unusual scenario. Over 40,000 Google Search outage issues were reported on Tuesday morning, as per outage detection platform Downdetector. The Google server problem appears to have occurred following the explosion at Google's Council Bluffs data center.
Details regarding the affected data center
Notably, Google operates a total of 23 data centers across the globe, and 14 of them are located in the United States. According to the company, these facilities "keep all of Google's products and services up and running around the clock." Google's data center in Council Bluffs is one of the company's largest and was inaugurated back in 2009.
