TRADEGY struck on when a nine-year-old girl was electrocuted and died at Makhambane Reserve in Mtubatuba on Sunday.
After experiencing gale-force winds during the weekend, it is reported that an electricity pole snapped and the electrical wires, which the pole was supporting, were dislodged.
These loose wires landed on a fence of one of the homesteads and electrified the entire fence. The nine-year-old victim and her friend, who were crawling through the fence, made contact with it and the girl was electrocuted.
The victim’s friend, who managed to escape unharmed, went to report the incident to her family at home.
However, when the parents and Eskom staff arrived at the scene, the girl was already dead. The girl’s body was removed and taken to the Mtubatuba government mortuary.
According to www.sanews.go.za, Eskom Corporate Occupational Health Safety Operational Manager, Alex Stramrood, warned communities about illegal electricity connections and the dangers of electricity.
‘It all starts with education, avoiding the dangers of illegal connections and ultimately preventing the loss of innocent lives, which is a consequence of the unsafe use of electricity,’ he said.
Eskom has identified the biggest contributors to electrical accidents, injuries and deaths as, among others, contact with low lying and fallen power lines, unsafe connections, vandalism, illegal power connections and cable theft.
‘We have found that most people understand that electricity can be dangerous, but often they can’t identify risky situations and they aren’t sure how to respond,’ Stramrood said.
