12-year-old boy dies of electric shock in Airoli

NAVI MUMBAI: A boy, aged around 12 years, died of electrocution after the iron ladder he was playing with came in contact with a high-tension wire at Airoli on Monday morning.

The deceased begged for a living, the police said. Rabale police registered an accidental death case.

According to police, a fourpole iron ladder was brought to that area for some repairing work of a shop on the ground floor of a building at sector 7, Airoli.

Yogesh Gawde, senior inspector of Rabale police station, said, “After finishing their work on Sunday evening, the workers had kept the ladder with rubber wheels at a safe place. The CCTV footage from that area shows that around 8.52am on

Monday, the boy started playing around the ladder. At one point, he unknowingly pushed the ladder towards the overhead high tension wire. He was electrocuted as soon as that ladder came in contact with the 11KV high-tension wire.”

“The boy was not wearing any footwear, hence the electricity flow got connected to earth through his body. The boy was burnt and died on the spot,” said an official from Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL).

Gawde said, “Our investigations are on and if we find anyone at fault, we will register an FIR against him or her.” He added, “We have come to know that the boy would beg in that area to earn his livelihood. So far, no one has come to claim the body and we are unable to trace his family members.”