CHENNAI: A 57-year-old man was electrocuted when he stepped into a puddle of water in front of his house in Injambakkam, without realising that a snapped low-tension (LT) cable had fallen into it after the early morning showers, on Friday.
This is the fourth such electrocution death happening in and around Chennai since July with people coming into contact with snapped or exposed cables, allegedly due to the failure of the state’s discom, Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (TNPDCL). Officials said a compensation of Rs 10 lakh will be handed over to the family of M Samuel, who was killed on Friday.
According to the Neelankarai police, Samuel was a construction labourer, who was currently unemployed. He was living in his house with his wife and 25-year-old son, who works as a plumber.
“Around 9.30 am, Samuel was walking out of his house when he stepped into the puddle. During inquiry, it was found that a cable had snapped and fallen into it only a few seconds before Samuel walked out,” a police source said.
After he got electrocuted and collapsed, passersby alerted TNPDCL officials and power supply to the area was cut off. Samuel was rushed to a government hospital nearby, where he was declared brought dead, the police said. The body was sent to Government Royapettah Hospital for a postmortem and the Neelankarai police registered a case. TNPDCL officials said an inquiry has been initiated to ascertain how the cable snapped.
It may be remembered that on July 2, a 17-year-old schoolboy returning home from tuition was electrocuted in Tiruvottiyur after he stepped in a pool of stagnant rainwater where an underground electric cable had got exposed.
On July 22, a 46-year-old auto driver was electrocuted when a high-tension cable snapped and fell on him near the Kilambakkam bus terminus. On August 10, a 36-year-old employee of a private company was electrocuted near Tambaram after coming into contact with a fibre optic cable tied to an electric pole since the cable was in contact with an overhead line.
(With inputs from S Guruvanmikanathan)