Aizawl, Sep 20 (IANS) Three workers, including a 16-year-old boy, were electrocuted to death and three others were injured while shifting an electric pole at a highway construction site in Mizoram’s Kolasib district, adjoining Assam, police said on Sunday.

A police official said that the tragic incident took place late on Saturday afternoon at Sethawn, near Kolasib, when the six workers were busy shifting an electric pole as part of the ongoing four-lane highway project.

According to the official, the workers were engaged by a sub-contractor involved in replacing electric poles that had been damaged during the widening of National Highway-306, a key road link connecting Mizoram with neighbouring Assam.

The highway-widening project is being executed by the government-owned National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL).

The police official said that two of the deceased workers were from Myanmar, while the third was from Manipur. The three injured workers were taken for medical treatment following the incident, the official stated.

The surviving workers said that they had switched off the power supply at three different points before starting the work. However, they were unable to explain how electricity subsequently reached the site.

Officials said that the workers had apparently switched off the wrong Gang Operated Air Break Switch (GOAB) after a power shutdown was sought from a control room before the work began. According to officials, the electric pole came into contact with a high-voltage power line while the workers were attempting to shift or replace it, resulting in the terrible incident.

The incident has raised questions about the safety procedures followed during the shifting of electrical infrastructure in an area where highway-widening work is being carried out.

Police said no formal complaint had been filed in connection with the incident so far. However, a case of unnatural death has been registered, and further investigation is underway to ascertain the circumstances that led to the fatal accident.

The authorities are also examining the sequence of events surrounding the power shutdown and the subsequent energisation of the line at the project site.

The incident comes amid ongoing infrastructure development along NH-306, which serves as an important surface communication link between Mizoram and the rest of the country through neighbouring Assam.

–IANS

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