By IANS,
Thane (Maharashtra) : In a freak accident, four Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) workers were electrocuted Sunday when the party flag one of them was holding came in touch with an overhead electric wire, a party official said.
The four were participating in an election campaign in Thane ahead of the upcoming civic polls in Maharashtra.
“The incident occurred this morning when the victims were preparing for a candidate’s procession. Ten people suffered from severe electric shock, four of who were killed immediately,” Thane NCP Chief Jitendra Avhad told IANS.
“The party workers raised a party flag, which accidentally touched the overhead electric wire. The current immediately passed on to the metal pole on which the flag was tied,” Avhad added.
According to eyewitness, the person who raised the party flag received massive electric shock and the ones who tried to rescue him also suffered the shock.
According to doctors at the government hospital, one of those killed was a minor. “One boy who was killed was only 16. His mother and two other women from the family went into a shock and were also admitted to the hospital,” an official from Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital told IANS.
The official also said that five others were also admitted to the hospital later. In total, 15 people suffered severe electric shock. “Of these, four were brought dead and 11 have suffered electric burns. One of them is critical,” the official added.