A 24-year-old lineman was fatally electrocuted in Barangay Balintawak, Escalante City, Negros Occidental on Saturday, Oct. 11. (Screengrab from Mark Balagosa Gale video)
BACOLOD CITY – A 24-year-old lineman was electrocuted to death while working to energize a transformer in Barangay Balintawak, Escalante City, Negros Occidental on Saturday, Oct. 11.
Police identified the victim as Orly, an employee of a private contractor firm, and a resident of Victorias City, Negros Occidental.
Police Capt. Lindsey Caraballe, deputy chief of Escalante City Police Station, said that Orly was electrocuted when he touched a live wire from a secondary line.
The victim’s colleagues said they coordinated with the Northern Negros Electric Cooperative (Noneco) for the energization process.
A power interruption followed and it took more than an hour for rescuers and Noneco personnel to remove the victim on top of the electrical post.
The victim was declared dead in a hospital, Caraballe said.
Meanwhile, authorities discovered two abandoned panel vans loaded with illicit cigarettes in Purok 6, Barangay Nagbo-alao, Basay, Negros Oriental on Saturday, Oct. 11.
The Highway Patrol Unit–Negros Island Region (HPU-NIR) spotted several individuals transferring master cases of smuggled cigarettes into the vehicles.
The suspects noticed the presence of law enforcers and fled.
Police, with support from other agencies, secured the site and coordinated with the Bureau of Customs and other relevant authorities for verification and inventory.
The value of the contraband is yet to be determined as the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) will lead the official inventory and valuation process.