CHENNAI: Two contract workers were electrocuted to death after the iron rods they were carrying allegedly touched a low-hanging overhead cable within a private company’s premises near SRF Road in Manali on Saturday morning.
According to the Manali police, the deceased were identified as Sakthivel (21) from Tiruchy and Deepak Nayak (19) from Odisha. Police said that both were working as contract labourers at the company, which manufactures grilles and gates.
On Saturday morning, they were assigned to carry iron rods. Around 10 am, as the duo were working, one of the iron rods accidentally came into contact with an overhead electric line that was lying low. Both suffered severe electric shock and were thrown a few feet away.
Other workers who witnessed the incident rushed to their aid and took them to the Government Stanley Medical College Hospital. However, doctors declared them dead. Upon information, the police recovered the bodies and sent them for postmortem.
After visiting the location of the electrocution, the police conducted preliminary inquiries and registered a case. They stated that an investigation is under way to ascertain the safety measures at the workplace.
A police source said, “We are probing what led to the accident and how the cable came to be low-hanging.”
TNIE’s attempts to contact TNEB for a response were unsuccessful.