Repairs Begin After Lightning Damages 'Christ the Redeemer' Statue Above Rio de Janeiro (VIDEO)

By Jared Freeman, Wednesday, January 22, 2014

In this news footage out of Brazil, repair has begun on Christ the Redeemer, the iconic statue of Jesus overlooking Rio de Janeiro, after a lightning strike damaged its right hand last week. Engineers are restoring the hand and reinforcing the statue to prevent future lightning damage.

"The crown of the head is a lightning rod, but it isn't reaching all the way to the middle finger where the clouds generally come when coming from the east and the sea," says engineer Clesio Dutra. "So we're extending the lightning rods to the middle finger."

The biggest concern with the repairs is the safety of the workers. The statue, opened in 1931, reaches 125 feet above the ground.

Dutra says, "We take a take a little more time and we'll work outside visiting hours. We're not going to take any risks."

The repair job is estimated to take four months. Watch workers climb through the statue and assess the damage high above Rio in the news report below.