Three children electrocuted by high-voltage wires

Brothers die trying to save friend as unsafe transmission lines over homes spark outrage

HYDERABAD:

Electricity transmission wires hanging within arm's reach of residential units have caused yet another tragedy, as three children aged between 10 and 14 were fatally electrocuted in Hyderabad. The incident - where two brothers died while trying to rescue their friend who became stuck to an 11,000 kV transmission wire - occurred in Naghar Muhalla, in the Tando Tayyab area, early Thursday morning.

Deceased - 10-year-old Farhan, 12-year-old Faizan, and 14-year-old Abdur Rehman - had come to Hyderabad with their parents to attend a wedding. They slept on the roof of a ground-floor house reportedly owned by Azam Rajput and his family on Wednesday night. The tragedy unfolded when Abdur Rehman went too close to a high-voltage transmission wire and was fatally electrocuted.

Police said the two brothers died in their innocence while attempting to pull Rehman away from the wire, unaware they were stepping into a deadly trap.

Despite the loss of three young lives and the devastation caused to their families, authorities and stakeholders - including those who built the house on encroached land - appear largely unmoved. Official response remained limited to expressions of grief as Mayor Kashif Ali Shoro's statement did not go beyond seeking a fair inquiry from HESCO. He also urged relocation of transmission lines passing dangerously close to residential structures.

HESCO, however, pointed to encroachments as the primary cause, claiming the houses in Naghar Muhalla were built beneath transmission lines. Company spokesman Sadiq told The Express Tribune that HESCO had written to the district administration as far back as 2020, requesting demolition of such structures.

"The 11 kV line existed before the construction of these buildings," a sub-divisional officer of HESCO's Phuleli Subdivision wrote in a letter dated February 8, 2020, to the assistant commissioner of City taluka, warning that human lives were at risk and urging action against the encroachments. "We also urge the local administration to demolish such illegal constructions," he added.

Executive Engineer Phuleli Subdivision dismissed any suggestion that wires had snapped and fallen on the children, stating that initial findings indicate the victims came into contact with the live wire. "The main issue is encroachment. Some houses have been built directly under 11,000 kV lines, and in some cases, even our poles are now inside homes," he said.

HESCO's sub-divisional officer wrote to the Phuleli police station on Thursday, urging immediate action against encroachments.

Illegal consumer?

The house where the incident occurred is reportedly a registered HESCO consumer. According to a bill shared by the company's spokesman, the property received an electricity bill after April 15, with a payment deadline of May 4, amounting to Rs922,783 - an unusually high figure for a small residence. The connection was issued in August 2006 in the name of Mehmoodul Hassan. This raises questions about contradictions in HESCO's handling of such cases. Despite identifying these structures as illegal, the company provided electricity connections to them.