Electrical problem, but not many details.....

Firstly, sorry for the lack of detail in this question. I'd give more information if I could.....
My parents own a house in France, which is on 3 phase power. They have recently moved and the house is currently empty. My step father went over the other day to do a bit of maintenance and had no problems for the first day or so (staying overnight). The next day he plugged in the Sky (Foxtel) box in the lounge and it went off with a big bang instantly. He tried plugging in the toaster in the kitchen, and again it went up in a puff of smoke and loud noise. Not wanting to mess around he managed (through a contact) to get 2 guys from the local electricity board to come out to have a look. They pored over the place for 2 days, checking all sorts of stuff, including checking the wiring in the roof to make sure it hadn't been eaten by a rat or something. However, they found nothing. They gave the following simple explanation. "2 of your phases have joined and we don't know where the problem is, but we are sure it is not on our side, so go find another electrician. It must have been a lightning strike that did it". They then disconnected the 2 suspect phases and went on their way.

Now, getting electrician out on France is a mammoth task in itself, so I was just hoping that someone could give me any clue whatsoever as to what a possible cause may be, to try an reduce the amount of time and money they may charge when they eventually do appear. There had not been a storm for over a week before he went to the house, and seeing as everything was working fine the first day, I don't buy the lightning theory. Surely it would have been simple to check the phases were seperate where they enterred the house, (and the supply company should know if there is a problem on their side quickly anyway shouldn't they?) and so there must be a short between them somewhere after the meter box? Sound reasonable?

Thanks in advance.


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