Punjab

Undocumented electric wires claim seven lives

Rescue 1122 said bodies were found two hours later when another worker came to offer them food.

Our Correspondent June 15, 2014

Rescue 1122 officials said they were unaware of electricity wires underground as those were not documented in land records. PHOTO: FILE

MULTAN:

Workers who died of an electric shock late on Saturday are believed to be unaware of the electric wiring under the ground they were drilling in, officials say. They also say that there were no records of the wires.

The workers were installing gas pipes for a colony built in collaboration with the Turkish government for flood victims. The colony included a hospital. Rescue 1122 officials said they were unaware of electricity wires underground as those were not documented in land records.

They said when a drill machine they were using touched a wire, the workers suffered an electric shock.

Rescue 1122 said their bodies were found two hours later when another worker came to offer them food.

He informed the administration and their bodies were taken to Muzafarhgarh DHQ hospital.

MEPCO Executive Engineer Yaqoob Ghuzara said three years ago, the town municipal authority had installed a pump to dispose of waste water from the colony. He said the pump was connected to an electricity pole through underground wiring. He said the disposal pump was 50 feet away from the area where the labourers died.

He said MEPCO had no records of the wiring.

The district administration had constituted a committee under the supervision of Finance EDO Nadeem Hussain Tabassum.

However, later Advisor to Chief Minister on Health Salman Rafiq visited Muzafargarh and said a new committee would be constituted to investigate the matter.

The men had been working on a project scheduled to be inaugurated on June 21 by the chief minister and the wife of the Turkish prime minister.

Sheikh Ahsan, the director of the hospital, announced Rs500,000 compensation each for the families of the deceased.

Funeral prayers of the men were held on Sunday. Advisor to Chief Minister on Health Salman Rafiq met with the families of the deceased and offered his condolences.