6 die of electrocution, 8 hurt as high tension wire falls into pond
Six persons, including a 10-year- old boy, were electrocuted to death while eight others were seriously injured when a high tension 11000-volt wire fell into a pond here in Assam’s Nagaon district on Friday, police said.
The tragedy occurred when people were fishing at Uttar Khatooal village, under Rupohi revenue circle, the police said.
Villagers noticed the highvoltage power distribution wire hanging lose over the pond belonging to one Syeb Ali around 5 am and informed the Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL), the police said.
Electricity department personnel had assured them that the wire was not a live one and so some people went into the pond for fishing, the villagers claimed.
But it was activated around 8 am without informing the locals which lead to the electrocution, they further claimed.
The bodies when brought out from the water were either charred or had wisps of smoke emanating from them.
Police said the dead were identified as Rafiqul Islam, Jabar Ali, Habibur Rahman, Mainul Islam, Inamul Islam and Ashiful Islam (10).
The injured were taken to BP Civil Hospital in Nagaon where the condition of some of them was stated to be critical, police said.
State Disaster Response Force personnel rushed to the spot to find if there are any more bodies in the pond, official sources said.
Angry over the incident, locals armed with sticks attacked the house of an APDCL worker in the area and damaged furniture and his vehicle, police said.
APDCL sub-divisional officer of the Pallab Das and three other employees of the company were suspended following the incident, officials said.
Additional security forces have been deployed in the area and senior district civil and police officials have rushed to the spot, official sources said.
On the instruction of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Power Minister Tapan Gogoi, Water Resources Minister Kesab Mahanta and APDCL chairman Jishnu Barooah rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation.
Mahanta announced an ex-gratia grant of ₹2.5 lakh to the next of kin of each of the dead, besides an inquiry into the incident. Locals asserted that negligence by APDCL had led to the mishap and demanded compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the next of kin of each of the dead and a government job to one of their family members.
Former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta visited the bereaved families and demanded that they be given adequate compensation, besides an inquiry into the incident.
RUPOHI (ASSAM):