At least 15 people were electrocuted in northern India on Wednesday after a transformer exploded, energizing the bridge they were crossing at the time, local authorities said.
“The incident happened this morning, at least 15 people died (…). The electric current went to the railing of the bridge and the accident happened to anyone who touched this railing,” police officer V. Murugesan told EFE.
Seven other people were also injured, two of them seriously.
“The accident occurred due to leakage of electric current from a transformer” that powered a bridge in Chamoli district, located in the northern state of Uttarakhand, Murugesan added.
The head of the regional government, Pushkar Singh Dhami, expressed his condolences to the victims and their families and added that the injured were taken to the nearest hospital in the region.
Dhami also noted that rescue teams, including the state’s disaster relief agency, were on the scene and helicopters had been deployed to transfer the injured to larger hospitals.
Images posted on social media show dozens of people helping rescue teams transfer the injured to ambulances.
At least 11 people, including two minors, died from electrocution and another 15 were injured last April when they took part in a religious procession in South India and the top of a float came into contact with power lines, causing an electric shock. caused.
Source: DN
