Electrical wire mishap… Victim loses arm

Jan 14, 2013 News

– GPL still to contact family

The family of Asgar Mohamed is upset that no Guyana Power and Light Corporation (GPL) official has contacted them regarding the horrific injury he suffered last Friday after coming into contact with a burst GPL wire.

Asgar Mohamed shortly after his surgery

The 39-year-old South Better Hope, East Coast Demerara resident suffered severe burns to his left arm and doctors were forced to amputate the limb on Saturday. He is recuperating in the Georgetown Public Hospital’s High Dependency Unit (HDU). Kaieteur News understands that he communicated briefly with relatives yesterday.
A relative noted that GPL had sent out a statement which seemed to suggest that Mohamed had been electrocuted. The relative added that by now, the officials should have been aware that Mohamed, though badly injured, survived his ordeal and is in hospital.
Mohamed’s relatives are also questioning the power company’s claims that the Stabroek area where the wire snapped was cordoned off prior to Mohamed being injured.
The GPL release had stated that Police and Fire Service had responded immediately and cordoned off the area. It added that “inexplicably, a male civilian forcefully breached the cordon and came into contact with the live wire, which resulted in his electrocution.”
Some eyewitnesses claimed that a GPL crew arrived before the handyman was injured, but did not immediately cordon off the scene or attempt to repair the damaged wire.
However, one woman stated that several people continued to walk in close proximity to the wire despite appeals by the police.
The GPL release had stated that a truck came into contact with an overhead guy wire, causing it to snap and fall to the ground. The release said that a section of the wire came into contact with a 13.8 KV feeder, and this caused the guy wire to become energized.
A GPL official had told Kaieteur News that the driver of the truck left the scene immediately after the mishap.
A woman who operates one of the Digicel and GT&T booths near Demico House said that she heard a ‘booming’ sound shortly after 12:00 hrs. “Then we see a wire fall on a car and light it on fire.”
She said that Mohamed, who performed odd jobs in the Stabroek area, was attempting to remove the wire from the vehicle when he was hit by volts of electricity. However, other eyewitnesses said that Mohamed known as ‘Jesus’, was attempting to pick up the wire from the ground when he sustained his injury.