CHENNAI: A 28-year-old sales representative died from electrocution after falling into a pool of rainwater near the Madhavaram roundabout on Monday night, the police said.
Sakthivel of Tiruvannamalai district was riding back from work on his two-wheeler when he lost his balance and fell into stagnant rainwater near the roundabout. Power leakage from underground electricity cables connected to a nearby transformer is led to have charged the rainwater pool, leading to his instant death, the police added.
The Madhavaram Traffic Investigation Wing police sent the body to Government Stanley Hospital for post-mortem. Residents said excavation work by a private gas company had damaged the
Chennai-Kolkata national highway near the roundabout, forcing vehicle users to negotiate potholes and damaged stretches.
A TNPDCL official told TNIE that the cause of death can be ascertained only after the post-mortem examination and that the suspected water leakage could not be confirmed at the moment.
In another incident, Sanjeev Kumar (36), a welder attached to the Perambur Railway Carriage Workshop, was welding a freight train at the Tondiarpet railway yard when he came into contact with a high-voltage overhead electric line on Monday. The shock threw him off the train, the police said. The Korukkupet railway police have registered a case.