Two men were lucky to survive Wednesday after they were dangerously jolted by electricity while installing streetlights in a road corner in Barangay San Manuel.
However, the truck they were using to install the streetlights got burned, said Fire Officer 3 Rud Mark Anticano, spokesperson of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in the city.
Anticano said mini crane truck driver and operator Antonino Luay, 44, and worker Albert Sablawon, 23, were immediately rushed to the hospital, but no serious physical injury was recorded from them.
Even their electrocardiogram (ECG) results were also normal, he said.
“Wala silang injury whatsoever. Walang point of entry or exit, pati ECG nila okay. Okay lahat, ligtas silang dalawa,” he said.
He said the incident was reported to the city BFP at 2:12 p.m. by concerned citizens who witnessed what happened to Luay and Sablawon.
Anticano said they suspect electrocution accident happened at 2:05 p.m. which no one immediately reported.
“Sila ‘yong nagtatayo ng mga streetlights natin… ‘yong mga… kung napapansin niyo ‘yong stainless, ‘yong kulay puti? Ang malinaw sa atin dyan ay ‘yan ay pagmamay-ari ng GM 3 Builders na naka-base sa Taytay, Rizal. ‘Yan ‘yong kompanya nila,” Anticano said.
The two are employees of GM 3 Builders based in Taytay, Rizal, which was reportedly subcontracted to install the city government’s streetlights.
Based on their initial investigation, Anticano said the incident happened when a streetlight post mounted on the mini crane truck swung and hit the high tension wire of the Palawan Electric Cooperative (PALECO)
“Itinatayo nila ‘yong poste, buhat-buhat ‘yon ng crane truck, tapos may bakod, may barbed wire… ‘yong isa po andoon na sa loob ng barbed wire, nasa loob na ng kabilang bakod. ‘Yong isa naman nasa labas. So, hawak-hawak niya ‘yong dulo ng poste, iniabot niya doon sa kabila patawid ng bakod. Noong iniabot niya patawid ng bakod, nag-swing, parang nag-pumaling ‘yong poste… sumabit ngayon ‘yong dulo, ‘yong mismong ilaw sa dulo ng poste sa high tension wire ng PALECO,” Anticano said.
He said that per his knowledge, the PALECO high tension wire has around 32,500 plus volts.
Anticano pointed out that Sablawon got knocked out because he was holding the electric pole on the other side of the barbed wire fence and Luay too since he was holding the truck and standing on it.
“Yong isa hawak niya sa kabila ‘yong bakal, doon na siya nakuryente, tumilapon ‘yon. ‘Yong operator ng crane (Luay) tumilapon din, nakuryente dahil nga po syempre nakahawak siya sa truck, nakapatong siya sa truck… bakal ‘yong hinahawakan niya, nakuryente rin siya. ‘Yong mga gulong sa ilalim ng truck dahil live wire ‘yan, kapag ang live nakapitan ng ground, magkakaroon ‘yan ng continuity, magkakaroon ng conductivity, magci-circulate ngayon ‘yong kuryente so, ‘yong truck puro bakal ‘yan, kinakapitan ng kuryente, sinunog niya ngayon ‘yong lahat ng combustible materials and contacts,” he said.
