Officers start onsite probe into electric fence accident

SHIZUOKA: Police yesterday began onsite investigations into the cause of an accident the previous day in Shizuoka prefecture, central Japan, that left two men dead and five women and children injured after making contact with an electrified fence protecting flower beds.

The two electrocuted in a river were identified as Masatomo Ozaki, a 42-yearold resident of Kawasaki, and Tomohiro Iwamura, 47, of Zushi, both of Kanagawa prefecture, south of Tokyo, according to local police.

The Ozaki and Iwamura families were on a picnic at the time of the accident.

The 1m-high wire fence was set up on a riverside in Nishi-izu town by local residents to guard a plantation of hydrangea flowers from wild deer. Part of the fence was damaged and a piece of wire was in the water.

Electricity was supplied to the fence from a 100-volt outlet in a farm supply shed nearby, an investigative source said.

The police will investigate whether appropriate safety measures were in place as government regulations require the installation of an earth leakage breaker around electric fences carrying charges of 30 volts or more.

A transformer was installed in the line, but it could have been out of order, according to the source.

Around 4.30pm (3.30pm Thai time) on Sunday, Ozaki, his son Raiku, 8, and Iwamura’s son Kaio, 8, were heard screaming while playing in the river. Ozaki’s wife Yuka, 43, Iwamura and his wife Takako, 42, as well as Sumie Yamamoto, a 75-year-old local resident, were also electrified after entering the water to save the three.

Takako Iwamura and son Kaio were severely injured, while Yuka Ozaki and son Raiku as well as Yamamoto suffered slight injuries.

The accident took place about 25km southeast of Shuzenji Station on the Izu Hakone Railway.