Following the death of four people due to electrocution in the capital’s Mirpur area on Thursday, Dhaka Electricity Supply Company Limited (Desco) asserted that there were no torn electrical wires submerged in water at the site.
Desco Executive Director (Operation) Engineer Md Zakir Hossain while talking to Dhaka Tribune said the company has two electric transmission lines in the Mirpur-2 area. One of them is 11,000 volts and the other one is 400 volts.
He added that they received a call from the Fire Service and Civil Defence at 10:25pm regarding the incident at their help centre at Rupnagar.
“As soon as we got the call, we shut down both lines at 10:26pm,” Md Zakir Hossain said.
Subsequently, Desco officials visited the incident site but could not locate any submerged electrical wires. Similarly, both the police and fire service personnel were unable to provide any information in this regard.
“It is suspected that the cable might have been torn from an illegal connection as a result of heavy rainfall and lightning. Low-income people from shanty towns often illegally connect wires from our transformers.
There is also a madrasa in the area that has an illegal connection. We had planned to raid the area at night (Thursday) to disconnect these connections but could not due to rain,” the official said.
Md Zakir Hossain further noted that there is a possibility the incident took place as a result of earthing issues.
“This incident is shocking. A proper investigation of the incident is required. So Desco formed a three-member probe committee,” he added.
He also said they plan to talk to the locals of the area to find out more about Thursday's incident.
Following the incident, Desco has restored the electricity connection in the area, and as of now, no issues or problems have been reported from that location.
Four people including three members of a family were electrocuted in the capital's Mirpur area on Thursday night.
The incident took place in front of the Dhaka Commerce College area, near Jhilpar Bosti (shanty town).
Locals said that around 10pm in the night, four people, including a child, got electrocuted and fell into the waterlogged road. While trying to save them, five others were injured.
The deceased are Mizan, an autorickshaw driver, his wife Mukta, their seven-year-old daughter Lima, and another man named Anik.
The couple's nine-month-old child, Hossain, survived the electrocution.
A video of him being pulled by his legs from the water went viral on social media.
Hossain was rescued by two individuals from the Hijra community, Amina and Brishti.
The child was taken to Dhaka Medical Hospital and was admitted there at around 12:30am on Friday. Hossain is now with his family.
