17.09.2014

Death Wish injury

A man was rushed to hospital yesterday in Kamala, Phuket, Thailand after he received an electric shock while installing an internet cable among overhead power lines using a form of access that would certainly have qualified for our Death Wish series.
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Two colleagues attempt to rescue the shocked 19 year old

The man, Boonlong Taweepa, 19, was using a very basic ladder against the mass of wires and as he worked among the huge tangle of cables, some of which were clearly power lines. The lines run above a busy pedestrian area which was full of people when the incident occurred.

Two colleagues on the ground helped support the ladder and then move it along saving the need for Taweepa to return to the ground. While working he touched a power line and received a shock that stunned him. His two colleagues used a second ladder to try and rescue him after managing to disconnect the power. Having failed to untangle him, they become stuck themselves and it took the local authority to arrive with a knuckle boom crane and bucket to rescue them.
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Bucket to the rescue

The men were contracted by TOT - a large public telecoms company that evolved out of the Telephone Organization of Thailand in 2002 - to install the new internet lines. They claim that the situation was caused by the fact that the cables were wet due to the rainy conditions they were working in.
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The man is safely lowered to the ground and taken to hopsital

Vertikal Comment

We have covered Death Wish examples of people working on these chaotic overhead cable runs in the past, sadly it has now resulted in a serious incident. Fortunately this time it has not been fatal.

But shame on TOT for employing such basic methods in what is a sophisticated and relatively wealthy nation.