Electricity staffer from Ayeyarwady Region electrocuted to death in Sittwe

By Admin 11 Jun 2023

DMG Newsroom
11 June 2023, Sittwe

An employee working for the Electricity Supply Enterprise (ESE) from Ayeyarwady Region died from electrocution in the Arakan State capital Sittwe on Saturday night.

The man died after being electrocuted while repairing an electricity fault damaged by Cyclone Mocha in Sittwe’s Kontan Ward.

“He was electrocuted to death while working in a home. We took his body at about 8 p.m. after we received a phone call about the incident,” said U Min Htel Wah, chairman of the Shwe Yaung Metta Foundation, a local charity in Sittwe.

The man has been identified as Ko Thet Naing Tun, 25, from Pantanaw Township in Ayeyarwady Region. He, along with other electrical workers, was in Arakan State to assist in restoring electricity that was cut off by Cyclone Mocha, which made landfall over Sittwe on May 14.

The body of the deceased has been sent to a mortuary in Sittwe, and efforts are being made to contact family members of the deceased, according to the charity.

Sittwe residents are concerned about the use of electricity as there have been deaths due to electrical short-circuits caused by the storm.

“I would like to express thanks for having electricity. Nothing is more valuable than human life, so it would be better to provide electricity after proper inspection rather than providing electricity as soon as possible,” said U Tin Nyein Oo, a Sittwe resident.

In recent days, some neighbourhoods in Sittwe reported electrical surges, causing damage to lights, lamps, electricity metres and other electrical equipment, according to local residents.

“Officials should give priority to safety when providing electricity. In some places, nothing has been repaired, and there are electric shocks that happen immediately when the electricity is turned on,” said U Maung Lu Aye, a resident of Sittwe.

Many electricity poles and power lines were damaged by Cyclone Mocha in Sittwe, Ponnagyun, Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U, Minbya, Myebon, Pauktaw, Rathedaung, Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships, severely disrupting the electricity supply across much of Arakan State.

About 1,500 electricity staff — more than 1,000 in Arakan State and over 500 technicians from outside the state — have been working to fix the electricity supply network in Arakan State, the state military council has told DMG.

Electricity has been supplied from a power station in Ponnagyun town to wards in Sittwe and Ponnagyun since June 7, but both towns are still experiencing rotating outages, as was the case before the storm.

The Arakan State electricity supply office is working to resume electricity supply to other storm-hit townships, an official has previously told DMG.