Three men were electrocuted when the iron beams they were handling came into contact with high-tension overhead power supply cables at Adambakkam on Tuesday morning.
One of the victims is a college student who was working during the summer vacation to support his family.
The three men — G. Gopinath (21) of Tirukoilur in Villupuram district, M. Lakshmanan (41) of Vandavasi in Tiruvannamalai district and Premkumar (37) of Puzhuthivakkam near Adambakkam — were part of a group engaged in construction work at a two-storeyed house on A.S.K. Nagar First Main Road.
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On Tuesday, the men were engaged in installing iron beams over which a cement concrete mixture is poured for building a roof.
The beams were being hoisted to the terrace from the ground by another group of men. The iron beams, while being pulled up by the three men on the terrace, touched the power supply cables. Gopinath and Premkumar died on the spot, while Lakshmanan was rushed to a private hospital in Nanganallur, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. A case of accidental death caused due to negligence under section 304 (a) has been registered at Adambakkam police station.
According to P. Abdul Hussain, a resident of the adjoining house, a senior citizen was killed in a similar accident on the street a few years ago. More recently, a child died when she came into contact with the power supply cables, he said.
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He added that the radiation from the high tension cables could be felt while standing near them.
Residents of the locality said, as Adambakkam, formerly a part of Alandur municipality, had now come under Chennai Corporation, prompt steps should be taken for distribution of power supply cables under the ground.
An official of Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation said a team of senior engineers had visited the spot and carried out a thorough inspection. He said the high tension cables were at a safe distance of 4 feet from the building.
A 12-year-old boy died when he came into direct contact with high-tension power cables while playing on the terrace of his house in West Tambaram on January 1 this year.
One-and-half-year-old girl electrocuted
Meanwhile, a one-and-half-year-old girl was electrocuted on Monday night when she accidently touched a table fan at her house in MMDA Colony in Aminjikarai.
The police said M. Sadhana was sleeping with her parents when she accidently touched the live wire of the fan kept on the bedside. On Tuesday morning when she did not respond, she was rushed to a hospital where doctors declared her ‘brought dead’.
A case has been registered by the Aminjikarai police.