Worker suffers electric shock in Pasay pipe-laying accident

A worker was seriously injured after accidentally touching an underground power cable in Pasay City Tuesday afternoon.

Pasay City police investigation head Chief Inspector Joey Goforth said the worker suffered an electric shock when he hit the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) cable while working on a pipe-laying project.

“May ongoing pipe-laying na proyekto ng DPWH. Aksidente nila tinamaan ang power cable ng Meralco, underground power cable,” he said in an interview on dzBB radio.

The accident occurred at the corner of Buendia and Taft Avenues in Pasay City, and caused a power interruption, radio dzBB’s Sam Nielsen reported.

Citing initial information reaching the Pasay police, the dzBB report identified the injured worker as Renzo Borca, who was rushed to the Pasay City General Hospital.

“Walang coordination ang nagko-construct at di nila alam ang plan ng Meralco at natamaan ang linya,” Goforth said.

In a post on its Twitter account, Meralco said an emergency power interruption occurred at 4:02 p.m., affecting parts of Ermita, Malate and Paco in Manila City and a portion of Pasay City.

It said this was due to a “damaged underground facility along Taft Avenue, near Gil Puyat Avenue.”

Power in some affected areas was restored at 4:48 p.m., it said. — BM, GMA News